


mistaken identity

by Dabberdees



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Book 063: The Good Doctor, Gen, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, People are hurt, Torture, Whump, Yeah This Is Dark, and the doctor can't protect everyone, because when they're hurting him, everything is the same but 13 was never arrested at the end of TTC, graham is mistaken for the doctor and he's stubborn, he just has to endure it, set after s12, they ain't hurting the doctor, which means she can get them out of here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27965699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dabberdees/pseuds/Dabberdees
Summary: She should've protected Bill, and Clara, and Amy and Rory, Adric, and the countless others, but she didn't,So, what made her think she could protect the three of them?
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan & Graham O'Brien & Ryan Sinclair
Comments: 48
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

"Right."

"You've said that already, Doctor."

The Doctor faces Yaz. "Have I?"

"About four times now," Ryan tacks on. "Kept count 'cos there's ain't much else to do in this cell," He shrugs. "They took our phones, what about your sonic?"

"Graham?" The older man grunts in response. "What did you do with it when I lent it to you?"

Graham cracks his eye open and stares at her through the low light filling the cell from the flickering bulb in the ceiling. "Put it in my pocket, but they found it, smirked when they did, though, then called through to their boss," He mutters as he pulls himself into a sitting position. "You know, they could've given us something to sit on."

"We have the floor."

"Oh, 'cos that's really comfy," Graham mumbles under his breath sarcastically. "Anyway, Doc, thought of anything other than the word right, yet?"

"Working on it," She replies with a wave of her hand towards Graham. "If I could figure out why we were arrested, then I would have something to go on, but I don't know why we were-"

"And I think you're just about to find out what that reason is, Doctor," Yaz calls attention to the cell bars and the four figures approaching it. "Company and they look angry."

The Doctor pushes herself to the front of the metal bars, eyes narrowing in thought at the strangers. "Why have you locked us up?" She demands, frowning when they completely ignore her. "I asked a question-"

"Yes, you did," One of the figures speaks, voice rough and ready. "But we're not here to speak to one of his pets."

The Doctor's forehead creases in puzzlement. "What?"

"Get him," The same figure orders. "I want him in the interrogation chamber-"

Ryan and Graham share a glance with one another before they scramble backwards, hitting the far wall. "Doctor-" Ryan says.

The Doctor sidesteps in the way of the three people entering the cell. "Why do you need them?"

"Them?" The figure removes his helmet, throwing it down to the floor with aggression. "Not them, not you, him-" His gloved hand snaps forward to Graham while the Doctor gaze remains locked on the figure's marred face. She remembers in a flash. "He did this to me!"

Graham stares wide-eyed at the stranger. "Hey, I didn't do anything like that," He blurts out. "I don't even know who you are."

Which turns out to be the wrong thing to say when the figure breaks past the stunned Doctor and storms towards Graham, grabbing him by his face and slamming him back against the wall, he winces when pain shoots through the back of his head as it hits the brick hard. "You don't remember?!"

"Doctor!" Yaz calls out as her legs push her forward. She reaches out and shouts in surprise when she's yanked back. Her eyes look towards Ryan, finding the same happening to him. "Doctor, a little help!"

The urgency in Yaz's voice snaps the Doctor into action, and she turns, a hand whipping out and latching onto the back of the figure's jacket, about to pull him away from Graham when she finds herself on the floor shaking in agony. There's a pain in her side, electrified and burning. If she had to guess she would assume she's been jabbed with a stun baton, nasty piece of weaponry. She blinks up at the figure and Graham, mouth trying to speak, but struggling through the clenching of her jaw.

"Do you like seeing us hurt them?" The figure sneers at Graham. "The Doctor and his pets, maybe we should just hurt them? They call out to you, begging you for help," He taunts, grinning wildly at the look of fear in Graham's eyes. "Or not, after all, we aren't monsters like you are, Doctor."

"He's not the-" Yaz finds a hand clamped around her mouth, cutting her sentence short.

Graham can't speak even if he wanted to, not with how hard the figure is holding onto his face. He tries anyway, the sound coming out muffled.

The figure keeps his hand on Graham's head. His free hand moves to his face, and he trials a finger across the long scar running down his temple to his chin. "You did this to me, Doctor!" He yells in anger. "When you came to my home planet, it's funny," He presses Graham's head harder into the wall. "You had a different face, but I've heard of you lot, you can change your face, and you have-" He sneers. "-if I could change mine then I wouldn't have to live with the scar you gave me!"

Ryan pulls against the man holding him. "Don't!" He shouts. "He's not the Doctor, none of us are, you've got the wrong people-"

"Your pet is lying," The figure spits. "We've tracked your ships signal, picked up the energy radiating off you, we know you're the Doctor-" His free hand moves to his hip. "-and we're going to have some fun, first-"

Graham's eyes widen when they catch the glinting steel, and he struggles in the man's mightier grip.

Yaz snaps her head to the Doctor, spotting her looking and shaking, the baton still pressed against her side. She yanks her head free and stares at the figure. "You don't have to do anything!" She tries. "Please, you don't have to hurt any of us-"

"The Doctor didn't have to destroy my planet," The figure snaps as he brings the knife forward and down against Graham's face.

The sound that follows is a sound that none of them ever wanted to hear when Graham screams, muffled as it is through the vice grip of the figure's hand.

"This is for everyone who lost their lives, Doctor," The man shouts. "You took everything from me!"

The Doctor can only watch in horror as the blade glides down her friend's face, she struggles to move, but tries, only to find the shock baton digging into her side harder.

"There, we match now, Doctor," The knife falls back to the figures side, blood dripping from it into a puddle onto the floor. His hand drops from Graham's head. "That's just the beginning for you-" He smirks when Graham slumps to the floor, hands pressing against the red liquid covering the left-hand side of his face. He kneels down, lifting Graham's head. "-we're going to have a lot more fun together," The figure stands again, eyes flicking around to the horrified expressions on the three faces. "Let that be a lesson for all of you." And with that, he turns, feet stomping from the cell, followed by the three men he came with.

Yaz reacts first. She's at Graham's side in a flash, jacket off and pressed against his face. "Doctor-" She turns her head to the prone woman, still shaking, muscles stuck and twitching. "I need your help!"

"Grandad," Ryan's voice wavers. He reaches out, grabbing his hand and squeezing. "We need to see what he did-"

"He's bleeding, Ryan," Yaz splutters, tears falling freely from her eyes. "Doctor, please-"

The Doctor forces herself up, one hand wrapped around her side, feeling for the burn there. She shoves herself forward, legs screaming their protest as she slams against the floor next to Graham. "Move-" She barks, and they don't argue. "Graham-" He whimpers in response. "-Ryan is right."

She takes in a deep breath, regretting it the instant she tastes his blood in the air, but she presses on and removes the jacket, bile filling her throat when her eyes lock onto the gash.

It travels from his temple, across his eyebrow, thankfully missing his eye, before running down his cheek and coming to rest at his jawline.

"You have that cream?" Ryan snaps at her. "You gotta have it, the healing one-"

The Doctor knows she doesn't have it, but she rifles through her pockets anyway, pulling everything out in them.

"Why don't you have it?!"

The Doctor blanks Ryan and his angry tone. "Graham-" She gently sits him up, holding him in place, but she keeps her hands from his flesh. Cowardice perhaps, but she doesn't want to feel his pain.

The guilt will eat at her enough.

"Do you have anything that can help him, Doctor?" Yaz pleads. "Anything-"

"I-" Graham chokes, swallowing thickly. "Pocket, inside-"

The Doctor opens his leather jacket, scanning for the pocket and jamming her hand in when she finds it.

"Bandage, stuff-"

The Doctor pushes a fake smile onto her face. "Fifty points to Graham for being prepared," She forces out. "Good thinking."

"What does he have?"

The Doctor pulls it out, mentally going over it. "It's going to sting, Graham-"

"It- it-" Graham struggles, his hand grips Ryan's like a vice. "-already-" He whimpers again. "-fucking hurts."

"Not going to deduct points for the swearing, think it's deserved right about now," The Doctor rambles as she dabs antiseptic onto a cloth from her pocket. She presses it onto Graham's face, wincing when he fights her. He cries out in pain. "It's nearly over-"

"Gramps," Ryan talks. "You're doing great, all right?" His hand aches from Graham's frantic clenching. He tries to speak again, voice stumbling over itself when he lets loose a sob.

"Done," The Doctor yanks the cloth away, throwing it to the side. She ignores the agony in her limbs. The bile remains in her throat as she takes stock of Graham's wound.

It's going to scar.

The guilt inside builds higher.

"Doc-" Graham mumbles. "Not your fault."

Ryan glances towards her, eyes narrowed. "Who the hell was that and why does he think you destroyed his planet?"

"It doesn't matter," The Doctor snaps. "I need to take care of Graham-" She diverts the subject away. "-then I'm getting us out of here."


	2. Chapter 2

When was the last time she did this?

Ah, Davros.

That was it.

"Graham," The Doctor begins. Her eyes catch the foggy look in his, and then his pale flesh. "I can help you-" She says, unsure if he's even listening to her now. Her hand raises to his face, hovering for a moment before touching.

It's wet, warm, and sticky.

And that doesn't cover the shock running through Graham right now. The fear, panic, pain- She almost flinches back like she's been burned.

Huh, she supposes she has been burned judging by the ache in her side.

"Doctor, what are you doing?" Yaz asks from behind her. Her voice shakes. "We need to stop the bleeding, don't we?"

"We do-"

"Then, how?"

"There is a little trick that I know," The Doctor answers as her eyes close. "Something my people can do-"

"What?"

"This," There's a high whine in the air, and in a golden flash, light obscures her hand and his face. She pushes herself, forcing the energy out of her exhausted limbs and into him, directing it to heal as best as it can.

It won't remove the scar, but at least it'll stop the bleeding. Heal it enough, so he doesn't bleed out.

She falls back, slumping against Yaz while Graham falls against Ryan's hands that were ready to catch him. He lays him down gently before feeling for a pulse. "What did you do?" Ryan demands, turning Graham over after he finds the pulse, weak as it is. "His face-"

The Doctor blinks slowly at Graham and Ryan, thankful that the older man has seen fit to pass out now. "I healed it, but I shouldn't do it-" She winces. "-it's costly, might be even shorter the next time around-"

Ryan pulls his sleeve up and over his hand and begins wiping the drying blood from his grandad's face. He ignores the amount of red coating his sleeve and the light blue shirt that Graham has on. "Hey-" His eyes snap to the Doctor. "-it's healed, actually healed, but-" his fingers press down, feeling the mark running down Graham's face. "-it's still-"

"I can't fix the scarring, Ryan," The Doctor murmurs against Yaz. "I can only heal it, but the scar will remain."

Ryan swallows thickly, and he doesn't care that they're watching him as he cries, shoulders shaking with the effort. "There has to be something we can do in the future, though, right?" He pleads.

"Doctor-" Yaz's voice is concerned, worried, and the Doctor feels her hand resting against her side. "-you're hurt as well-"

The Doctor yanks herself free from the young human woman. "I'm not important-" She declares. "-just focus on the issue at hand."

It's her punishment.

She doesn't deserve to feel relief from the burned flesh.

"But-"

"-Just focus on Graham, all right?" She stares at the two younger humans. "And get some rest, I will keep an eye on all of you."

Ryan nods. He reaches for Yaz's jacket, turning it inside out, so the blood is on the inside. He places it under Graham's head before taking his own coat off and laying it across the older man as a sort of blanket. He settles himself next to Graham, eyes focused on the rising and falling of his chest.

The Doctor is sure they won't get rest. Too high strung and scared, the only one which will is the man who now has a scar displayed upon his face for the world to see. 

Her eyes flick to the cell door. She doubts she could get it open without her sonic. It seems simply by appearance, but the Doctor watched them open it with their thumb. DNA or fingerprint. She needs to observe it some more to decide which it is.

Her eyes flick from the door and onto the corridor outside before returning back to the cell itself. She frowns. No cameras, handy for them if they want to talk or plan.

She glances down at herself next and then her friends, spots the blood covering all of their hands and clothes and the floor. Thick and dark red, drying and staining to a rust colour. The cell stinks of iron, even Ryan and Yaz would be able to taste it in the air, and they're only human.

But for her, the flavour spills in the back of her throat, and she fights the urge to gag on it.

He shouldn't have got hurt like that, shouldn't have got mistaken for her, or paid for something she did thousands of years ago. Which face was it? It was before War, one of them, so young compared to what she is now.

Her eyes shut on their own before snapping over when she feels a hand rest against her shoulder.

"It's okay, Doctor," Yaz raises her hands. "It's just me; you rested for a bit-"

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Yaz replies in a hurried manner. "Just-" Her eyes flick back. "-Graham has woken up, he's a bit slow, but he's aware of everything, and he's asking questions, but I think he's still in shock-"

The Doctor springs to her feet, and she pushes herself to the back of the cell. "Graham-" She says, looking down at him, forcing the horror from her face as she does it. "-how are you feeling?" Which in hindsight is a pretty stupid question to ask.

"Doc-" He whispers back at her from his lead down position. His hair is messed up and clumped with blood. "My face-"

"Does it hurt?"

Graham mumbles under his breath.

"I didn't hear that, Graham."

"Kinda," Graham says louder now. "Not as much-" He whispers, voice far away from them. "-why did he do it?" He asks, right eye focused intently on her, left eye held uncomfortably on his face like he's relearning how to move it.

The Doctor catches Ryan staring at her. "I-" The words feel thick in her throat. "-something happened years ago-"

"He said his planet was destroyed," Ryan spits. "And that you did it."

"He's wrong-" She shakes her head. "-it wasn't like that-"

"So, you admit that you had something to do with it and now Graham has been-"

"Ryan," Graham mutters. "The Doc didn't do this." His voice remains low and slow. He looks down at his shirt and then to the floor. "Does anyone have a mirror?" He requests. "I need to see it."

"I don't think that is a good idea, Graham," Yaz tries to suggest.

Graham slowly looks towards her. "I want to know what I look like," He murmurs. "I deserve to know what I look like now-"

The Doctor nods and reaches into the dumped pile of items on the floor. She grabs the small mirror and opens it for Graham to look into it. She averts her eyes from his face, too coward to look into it.

The choked sob that follows makes that guilt within her swell.

"I tried to say-" Graham pulls Ryan's jacket tighter around him. "-Doc-"

"Graham."

"You can't let them know the truth," Graham says with clarity, his eyes locked on her face. "You need to get us out of here-"

"What are you suggesting, Graham?"

Graham swallows thickly. Ryan won't like this, neither will Yaz, and the Doctor? Well, she'd hate it.

"Let him think I'm you," Graham states as he struggles to sit up, giving up and falling back down against the makeshift pillow. "Gives you a chance to help them-"

"No."

"It's the logical choice-" Graham presses on. "-don't want others to get hurt."

Ryan shakes his head next. "I agree with the Doctor," He snaps. "You ain't doing that, Graham-"

"You don't have a choice," Graham replies. "I'm already scarred, what's some more-"

"Graham-" The Doctor speaks in an icy tone. "No, don't you dare-"

"You don't have a choice, Doctor."

That tone of voice. She's heard it before.

"I'll tell them they got it wrong, that I am the Doctor, that you're lying-"

Graham stares back at her, his gaze matching hers like it did back on Ranskoor Av Kolos. "I mean it," He states with conviction. "You think I'm gonna lie here, after that, knowing exactly what kind of men they are, while you go off to them like a lamb to slaughter, 'cos if you do, then you don't know me at all."

"You're too stubborn for your own good, Graham," The Doctor glares down at the older human. "And stupid, they won't hold back."

"Maybe so," Graham mutters. "But I ain't gonna let any of you suffer when you don't have to."

"Gramps-"

"Final decision," Graham states. "Just get us out of here before they kill me, Doctor-"

The Doctor finally reaches forward, her hands pressed against the sides of Graham's face. She stares into his eyes and speaks, mind to mind.

'They won't kill you, Graham, they will torture you before they do, they will break you, and then they will kill you, and you expect me to get us out of here before they do that to you?'

'I do because you're the Doctor,' Graham clicks on as he thinks back to her, hoping she can hear him.

'Do you?' She snaps, ignoring the voices of Ryan and Yaz demanding to know what they're doing. 'Have you got the first idea about how this will work, Graham?' She speaks with anger. 'Because it's not like your movies, it's real, it hurts, and it does more than scar you physically, it lingers within you, tortures you for years to come-'

'But it's my choice to make, Doctor,' Graham replies, unwilling to budge on the issue. 'You are our best chance at getting out of here, and you know it,' He says, knowing he's right. 'If they know you're the Doctor, then they'll hurt you, kill you, then what will happen to us? Cos I can't see them letting us go, so let me do this for you, let me protect you and them-'

'You won't be the same man.'

'I know.' Graham grimaces. "I bloody well know that, Doctor, but I trust you to figure this out before it gets that far, all right?."

'And yet, you're willing to suffer for us,' The Doctor says. 'That's not your job, Graham, it has never been your job-'

'Just get us out of here, Doc,' Graham pulls his head free. "That's the only job you need to worry about, let me worry about mine."

The Doctor isn't happy, but she can't deny he's not wrong with his assessment. "Right, we need a plan to get out," She turns to the door. "And we need it fast."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chats between the doctor and graham that are 'like this' are mind to mind
> 
> CW: there is some panic and blood in this chapter

Now, breaking your ankle is very painful, walking through the dark in the middle of the night and kicking a cabinet or stepping on a lego or a three-pronged plug is agony, but that? That was something else, something Graham never thought he'd never ever experience. 

You see, pain is a funny thing, you always think you know what it's like, but then you get cancer, and your bloody feels sick and tired all the time, or you burn yourself on scalding water, and it takes you by surprise every time.

Well, having a maniac run a razor-sharp blade down your face is up there, way up there, above the cancer, above the cabinet and lego blocks and three-pronged plugs.

It's lasting, Christ, he can still taste the blood in his mouth.

Graham raises his left hand to his face once more. He locates the scar's beginning and runs his index finger down it, wincing from the pain as he does it. It's healed enough, but it's still far too raw.

"Graham?" Yaz speaks with worry, her red-ringed eyes locked on Graham's face. "Are you all right?"

Graham stares back, swallowing down the lump in his throat when he spots all the blood on her. His blood, saturated on them, coating them, god, how much did he lose? Is that why his brain feels all foggy? He zones out.

And Yaz's sudden touch causes him to flinch like he's been burned and her hand snaps back away from him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you-"

Graham blinks at her, uncomfortable as it is for his left eye to do. He should say something, but the words are challenging to say. What can he say? He's not all right; he can see that, they can see that because he's tried painting the cell red and he's done a damn fine job at doing that.

God, he feels weird, like, fuzzy or fizzy or maybe both, yeah, both are good.

"Hey-" Blonde hair swims in his vision. "Can you speak to me, Graham?"

Speak.

Can he speak?

Yeah, he can.

So, why doesn't he speak?

"Graham?"

"Is he all right?"

"Could be shock or blood loss, or both or I don't know, Ryan-"

Do you know what would be great right about now?

Sleeping.

So, he does just that, slips into sleep and dreams of a better place.

His living room, TV on, West Ham winning, and chips from the chippy drowned in curry sauce.

But is curry sauce red like that? And does it leak from his face? Graham presses his hand against his face, whipping it away and frowning at it. The next thing he knows is he's facing a mirror, eyes widened and horrified at the state of his face.

And then it hurts.

Oh, god, it hurts, why does it hurt? Like when you have a cut, and you put antibacterial gel on, only this is like directly pouring it into the wound in question. It stings. It burns. It's hideous. It's awful. It's-

Graham gasps awake, chest rising and falling with every breath he draws into his lungs. Sweat and blood mix together, making his clothes feel slick and uncomfortable.

"Graham-"

He freaks out when hands jump to his shoulders; vison blurred- "Get off me!"

"It's us-"

"Get away-" He shouts, eyes flicking between the three faces staring down at him. Their skin pale and scarred and- and-

There's movement above, the disfigured figure changes in front of his eyes.

"Grandad-"

Graham focuses on that voice, zones into it-

"You need to breathe, all right?" The voice continues. "Do it with me, in, out, okay?"

Breathe.  
Breathe-

Yeah, he can breathe.

In, out, in out-

"Good," The voice rewards. "Just keep breathing with me-"

And Graham does.

It feels like an age before he feels calmer. His head is less fuzzy and fizzy.

"What was that about, Graham?"

Graham doesn't know who asked the question. "Dunno-" He murmurs. "What happened?"

"You fell asleep, gramps," Ah, that was Ryan that time. "We were trying to get you to talk, but you sorta just passed out-"

"Oh."

"The Doctor said it was probably due to blood loss," Graham looks towards Yaz as she says this. "We watched you."

"Graham," The last person in the cell says. "I know a nightmare when I see one-"

Graham shuffles himself back into the corner and rests his head against the wall there before pulling his legs up and into his chest.

"It was one, wasn't it?"

From this angle, Graham has a perfect view of the cell. It's all dried now, but the blood is extensive. Who knew that you bled so much from your face?

"It's all true then," Graham mumbles after a moment. "I mean, I knew it was, but I hoped it wasn't-"

"You don't have to do what you decided," The Doctor states. "I don't want you to do that."

"Can we talk freely here?"

"There aren't any cameras," The Doctor glances around once more. "This seems more of a holding cell than anything else-"

"That's reassuring-" Graham replies sarcastically. "-how much worse could it get-"

"Glad you asked that question, Doctor," The figure from before says as the door in the corridor swings open. They all turn to look at him, sneers and rage on the faces of all bar Graham. "Because we-" He gestures between himself and his friends. "-have been busy getting your rooms set up, among a few other little treats-"

The Doctor begins to get up, pausing only when Graham grabs at her hand, his eyes begging her not to say anything.

"Ah-" The figure's mouth twists into a deranged grin. "You healed from the slash; I wondered if you would-"

"This makes it far more rewarding if he heals quickly," One of the men smirks. "Means we can do so much more."

Graham feels the Doctor wrap her hand in his, holding onto it and he hears a voice in his head, distant, but there nonetheless.

'Their names, I never told you their names,' The Doctor speaks mind to mind.

Graham's eyes flick to hers.

'Deverel, Arden, Orlan, and Parke-" Her inner voice is remorseful. 'Brilliant scientist, I promised help, I failed them-'

Graham's eyes move to each of their faces. Tall, brown hair, bald, and scarred- The four defining features of each.

'Deverel is the tall man, Orlan has the brown hair, Arden is bald, and-' Graham's eyes land on the last one. -the scarred one is Parke.'

"You're silent, Doctor," Parke sneers. "I sliced your face; I didn't slice your tongue out, although-" His eyes flick to Arden. "-Arden might like to, he can't speak now, you scarred me, made it so Arden can't escape the nightmares and horror-"

"Parke," Orlan, the one who spoke before, says as he rests his hand on his shoulder. "He will pay, but I'd rather keep his tongue in his mouth-" The man states with venom. "-need to hear him scream for what he did to my brother." His eyes flick to Arden, turning caring briefly. "For what he did to everyone."

"What do we do with his friends exactly?" Deverel questions. "Do we keep them here?"

"We have to," Parke mentions. "If they go, they will come back-"

"But these three weren't there," Deverel gestures at them. "It was that girl in that jacket-"

'Ace,' The Doctor informs Graham through their contact. 'You met her once.'

Graham thinks back and pulls up the memory even though it takes a ridiculous amount of time.

Ryan was kidnapped.  
He thought he was going to die multiple times over.  
There were horse people.  
And a woman called Ace.

"You don't have to do this," Ryan stands and glares at them. "You've hurt him, isn't that enough now?"

Parke stares at Ryan. "He's responsible for the death of our people, of our planet, and you think one scar is enough?"

Ryan can't help but look at the Doctor instead of Graham, his mouth beginning to form words-

"Leave it, Ryan," Graham jumps in front before he can, his voice straining with the effort of speaking. "Let them go."

"No." Deverel snaps. "They can go once you're dead."

"Now, now, Dev," Parke smoothly speaks. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here-"

"You're monsters," Yaz tries next, and she bravely puts herself in front of Graham.

"Monsters?" Orlan spits. "We shouldn't hurt people who had nothing to do with what he did, but-" He steps towards the cell and thumbs it open. "I'll be happy to punish him for what you say-"

He moves fast, catching them off guard as the baton that was pressed against the Doctor's side hours ago jabs Graham in the chest. It burns, and Graham feels his limbs seize up from the shock before relaxing when the Doctor throws herself against the man, pushing him away.

"Oh, you're a lively one, aren't you?"

"Orlan-" Parke walks up next. "You hurt her before-"

"Because she grabbed you," Orlan reminds. "She is lively, like the other girl he was with, she'll be a danger-"

"Still," Parke muses. "We need to move them to their cells, Orlan grab the boy, I'll get the girl, Dev-"

"Yeah, yeah, the lively one is mine," He concludes.

"Which leaves Arden with the Doctor," Parke looks towards the silent man. "Can you do that?"

Arden nods and pulls out cuffs.

"Right, then-" Parke nods. "Let's get them settled, shall we?"

\----

The actual journey to the cells took no time at all. They each have their own. Ryan and Yaz next to each other on one wall, the Doctor and Graham next to each other on the wall opposite them. The cells are barren, a bed, a toilet hidden behind a wall, sink, and that's about it.

Well, they have a bed, Graham has a mat on the floor and a ratty blanket, along with the chains wrapped around his wrists securing him to the wall like he's a danger to anyone around him. There's enough slack for him to reach the toilet and lie on the mat, but he can't reach much else.

They've also given them clothes, jumpsuits, while Graham remains in his sullied ones.

"Are there cameras here?" Yaz asks from the corner opposite Graham, furthest away from him, guilt on her face for causing him to get shocked.

"No," The Doctor answers. "I don't think there is true power in this building," She decides. "I think it's disused."

"So, what do they have then-"

"A generator, most likely," The Doctor frowns. "It probably can only power parts of the building," She muses. "They are smart-"

"They're torturers," Ryan corrects with anger. "How can they be smart?"

"They are smart, Ryan," Graham points out with a sigh. "The- Jane-"

"What?"

Graham looks at Ryan. " _Jane_ knows a scientist when she sees one-"

Ryan's eyes narrow at Graham before turning towards the Doctor like he expects her to correct his grandad.

The Doctor avoids their eyes. " _The Doctor_ is right," The lie stings and burns her tongue. She needs to get them out of here as soon as she can.

"Hey, Jane," Graham mutters. "Can you scratch my nose-"

The Doctor tilts her head at him, but proceeds forward and reaches through the bars. She only manages to grab his right hand. "Sorry, Doc, can't reach, just gonna have to have an itchy nose, I spose-"

"Shame."

'Smart.' She says through the grasp. 'Ten points to you, Graham.'

'Don't count if Ryan and Yaz can't hear it.' He thinks back to her.

'How is your chest?'

'Fine,' Graham grimaces. 'Orville-'

'Orlan.'

'I prefer the green puppet, Doc,' Graham chuckles more to himself. Maybe that's the hysteria kicking in now. 'Anyway, he didn't hold it on long enough to do anything.'

'That's a lie; I can see it in your mind, Graham.' She removes her hand from his, eyes locking once before turning outwards. "How are you two doing?"

"Why can't they give him clothes like we have?" Ryan asks. "It's not fair."

"No, it isn't, but it's not meant to be fair, Ryan," Yaz says quietly.

Graham glances over to her. "That wasn't your fault, Yaz, you didn't know he was gonna do that to me, all right?"

"But you got hurt for something I said."

"Yes, he did," Orlan speaks as he steps back into the room. He's trailed by his brother, Arden. "Doctor-"

Graham takes in a breath and slowly looks towards Orlan. "Yes?"

"You're going to come with us," Orlan smiles towards him as he unlocks the door and steps inside. "Can't say you're going to enjoy what we have planned, but you never know, you might-"

"Somehow I don't think I will," Graham mutters under his breath. "Hey, Jane-" He stares at the Doctor. "-you're in charge, all right?"

The Doctor stares back; eyes narrowed towards Graham.

Graham falls from the wall and to his knees when Arden releases his bindings. He rubs at his wrists before he finds himself yanked to his feet.

Oh, he's too old for this, far too old. He's pretty sure if Orlan and Arden weren't dragging him along he'd have fallen over by now, which isn't ideal.

"You're quiet," Orlan mentions again. "The last time we knew you, you spoke too much, promised us, but now you're silent."

Graham is quite honestly far too tired to have a conversation with his captors. "Maybe I regret what I did."

Whatever it was, that is, he thinks to himself.

"Doubt that," Orlan snaps. "You ran with that girl as soon as you could, leaving us to watch our people burn in radiation."

Ah, Graham must really ask the Doctor what happened if he is to know where he stands with these four.

"We're here now," Orlan distracts Graham from his thoughts. "You're going to watch something considering you ran so fast before-"

Graham looks around the room, spots the chair overlooking a screen, Deverel and Parke stood nearby it.

"Is it ready?"

Parke nods, hands on his hips. "It took Dev a moment to get our technology to work with this backwater tech, but he did-"

"Good," Orlan and Arden drag Graham forward and force him into the seat. They strap his wrists into the arm wrests, pulling it far tighter than they need to. "You're going to watch the aftermath, going to watch the people that you promised to save, but murdered in the end."


	4. Chapter 4

The footage shown disturbs Graham. He's seen similar growing up, saw it on the news when he was twenty-six, read it from books. Chernobyl comes to mind, then far more recently, Fukushima. 

Disasters. 

All of them.

But how does the Doctor fit into this? And why does she fit into this?

He's horrified by what he's seen, but the footage shows it as an accident, a horrible, tragic, accident, so why do they hate her so much?

He'll have to ask because he has to know.

"That's what you left behind when you ran from your shame-" Parke states bitterly. "When we left the reactor, we tried to do what we could, but they all died in the end, every single one of them-"

"Arden was traumatised into silence," Orlan speaks from behind. "When someone's flesh sloughs off in your hands-"

"You made that decision that ended their lives; you flicked the switch-" Deverel talks next. "We begged you not to, told you everyone we knew was down there-"

"But you said those damn natives on the planet numbered millions, but they were nothing, just nothing because our forefathers checked before we settled, they were unimportant compared to the people we knew-" Parke adds on. "And when I tried to stop it, you caused the window to smash near me, slashed my face open-"

"What do you say for yourself?" Orlan demands as he comes around to the front of the chair. He leans down on Graham's hands, pressing down hard. "What can you say for yourself? You picked a nothing species, something that offered no value over lives that did, thousands died in agony-"

"Our families."

Graham feels for them even though they've hurt and scarred him, but if what he's getting is true then the Doctor made a choice between millions of native species or a bunch of people taking resources and happily throwing said native species under the bus.

And that is something he knows all too well in regards to his own planet.

"I made a decision," Graham decides to say. "I can't change what I did, even if I wanted to."

Deverel snaps and shoves Orlan out of the way; he grabs Graham's by his head. "You're not even sorry?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was?" Graham replies, playing a dangerous game with four grief-stricken revenge seekers.

Oh, how Graham knows that all too well. He can see himself on their faces, the rage he felt at Tzim-Sha, his goal to kill him regardless of the consequences.

The sorry wouldn't cut it with the Doc, Ryan, or Yaz if he did kill him all those months ago, so he very much doubts it would cut it now.

"I made a decision," Graham says again, and he keeps his eyes facing straight. "I'm sorry you lost people, but I had to make a-"

Now, the punch was expected he must admit, it knocks his head to the side and jostles the slash on his face enough for it to protest the treatment.

"Dev-" Parke says. "-we don't want him knocked out."

"No, we don't."

"And as much as I hate to say this," Parke presses on with a grimace. "He can heal fast, but we don't know how fast he can or how often he can do it."

"Then I'll suggest we do a test," Orlan suggests with a glint in his eye. "The slash you did on his face was a serious injury; it makes sense that he healed that quickly, so what if we did a minor one, something that hurts but isn't serious?"

"What do you suggest, then?" Deverel looks towards Orlan, chest heaving with breath.

Orlan just grins in response and Graham has a feeling he's not going to like what they have planned at all.

\----

"When do you think he's coming back?" Ryan paces across his cell, nervously. "I hate this."

"He's coming back, Ryan," The Doctor tries to reassure. "They won't hurt him too much."

"They slashed his face open!" Ryan shouts at her. "He's got a scar running down his face-"

"Ryan, don't shout at her," Yaz comes to her defence. "We can sort this out, right, Doc-Jane?"

"He doesn't deserve to have whatever it is that they are doing to him, Yaz, he doesn't even know why they're-" Ryan cuts himself off in an instant when he hears feet shuffling down the corridor towards them. "Hey-" He shouts at them, eyes widening when he sees the limp body of his grandad being dragged between two of the men. "-what did you do to him?!"

"What he deserves," Orlan snaps and they all watch as Graham is thrown into his cell, the chains secured around his wrists again. He doesn't move, he just whimpers.

The Doctor watches as the four men turn and leave before she rushes forward, hand reaching through the bars, grabbing at Graham's hand and only managing to brush his fingers which cause him to react in a flash.

"Don't-" Graham looks towards her, his right hand now cradled to his chest, eyes filled with a sheen.

"What did they do?"

Graham stares at her before extending the hand out.

And that answers her question when she spots the damaged fingers, bruised and bloodied.

"They wanted to break it, I think, I'm not sure, I can move all of them, but it hurts," Graham whispers. "Said they wanted to see how I heal-"

The Doctor clenches her hands around the bars separating her from Graham. It's her fault; if she didn't heal the slash on his face, then they wouldn't have attempted to break his hand as a test.

But what choice did she have? He would've bled out before they came back.

"I'll get us out of here, Graham," The Doctor reaches out to the older man again, she gently holds onto his wrist. 'I can try and heal your wrist, but I'm not sure I should-'

'Why?' Graham thinks back to her.

"What are you doing?" Ryan barks at her. "You keep doing that!"

The Doctor ignores Ryan. 'Because if this is a test to see how fast you heal, Graham, then they will take this up a notch if that hand is fine when they come back.'

'Healing it would just make it worse for me, right?' Graham slowly figures out what she's hinting at. 'Leave it, for now, Doc, 'cos I don't think it's broken, I just think it's bruised if I am honest.'

'All right.' The Doctor nods. 'But tell me if you change your mind?'

"Yeah, sure," Graham says aloud. "Look, I'm just gonna pass out or something, all right?"

"Can you move yourself closer?"

Graham glances towards the chains. "Probably," He grabs the mat with his left hand and throws it towards the bars on the Doctor's side. He settles himself down on it, blinking in surprise when a pillow lands near his head.

"They never said I couldn't give you a pillow," The Doctor points out.

"Are you sure you should?" Yaz voices from the other side of the room. "They could hurt him if they spot it-"

Graham sighs, and he picks the pillow back up, holds it in his good hand before handing it back to the Doctor. "Nice thought, but I think Yaz is right," He pulls the ratty blanket over the top of him and faces the wall, his face hid from the others. "Just work on getting us out, don't worry about me." He bravely says, eyes filled with tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> parke and his mates, their parents parents settled on the planet, but they were born on the planet, so they're settlers, but not settlers


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is an AU
> 
> basically, i'm a clown and never said, but 13 was never arrested after TTC, she went back and picked her Fam up and they started travelling like they did before. she knows she's the Timeless Child, they know stuff as well
> 
> there are the good doctor spoilers in this (that's the dw book, not the TV show)
> 
> just a warning

"Psst, Graham-"

There is a gentle prod against his side. And then there's another like a cat in the morning who wants to be fed breakfast. Graham slowly opens his grey eyes because doing anything else pains him. God, his body aches, every part of him is hurting distinctively. His face throbs, the burn from the baton stings his chest, his hand, well, the less said about his hand, the better, but at least it's not broken, that much he does know.

"Are you awake?"

"No, Doc, I'm not," Graham exhales slowly and sikes himself up to turn over. It's arduous and painful, and he knows it's written across his face when he catches her gaze locked against him. "Doc?" She can't hide the look in her eyes, the guilt upon her face. "You know this isn't your fault-"

"You don't deserve this, Graham," She murmurs. "I should be in your place-"

"Nah," Graham would shake his head, but he doesn't have the strength to do that. "How are Ryan and Yaz?"

"They've fallen asleep," The Doctor looks over to them. "Our captors brought us food, watched us eat it and then took the remainder away-"

"Oh," Graham mutters. "Should've expected that."

"But-" The Doctor reaches into her coat pocket. "I carried something on me in case you ever needed to eat," She passes it through the bars. "Got a few of them."

"You did?"

"You seem surprised."

Graham lifts his head from the ground and tries to prop himself up on his left arm before giving up altogether. He slumps back down to the mat again. "I'm exhausted, Doc-" He explains freely. "-I don't even think I'm hungry if I'm honest, kinda just want to sleep-"

"Then let me do this, Graham," The Doctor turns and leans against the bars. "This is my punishment, not yours-"

"I know what you did, Doc," Graham flicks his eyes towards her. "You had a choice, and you made a decision, you saved millions of lives, so this is hardly a punishment-"

"At the cost of thousands-"

Graham sighs. "Maybe so, but you saved more than you lost."

"And now you're paying the price for my decisions," The Doctor stares directly at him. "I can't let you do that, Graham, I just-"

"What do you think they will do to you?" Graham stares back. "This way it's just one of us getting hurt and let me tell you something, Doc," He breathes heavily. "I haven't got a damn clue how we can get out of here, but you do, so figure it out-"

"Graham," The Doctor glances towards the doors. "I've checked the locks; I don't have the sonic, I don't know how to get us before-"

"Before?"

"Before they kill you," The Doctor completes her sentence. "You're human; you're weak-"

"Thanks."

"Not like that, Graham," The Doctor's eyes close, and she rests her head against the cool bar. "You're strong, and I was right before, because you're one of the strongest people I know, along with Ryan and Yaz, but this-" Her eyes open and she gestures towards his body. "-this is torture, and there is only so much that a human can take, you're not young-"

"It's my decision."

The Doctor sits herself down, legs crossed and hands resting in her lap. "Not if I tell them."

Graham exhales. "They'd think you're lying, or worse, they'd hurt you as well as me."

"Don't make me watch them break you."

Graham sucks in a deep breath and forces himself up and into a sitting position. His back hits the wall, chains rattling with him. "Hey, Doc," He wheezes. "Just a quick question, but do you remember Lobos?"

The Doctor shuffles herself back, so she's sat against the same wall as Graham. There is a puzzled look on her face. "I do, why?"

"You know, I was mistaken for you there as well," Graham reminisces with a look in his eye. "Mykados thought I was the Good Doctor."

"Where is this going, Graham?"

Graham turns his head to face her. "When he chained you to the wall, do you know where he took me?"

"He said the interrogation room."

"And what did you tell me to say in there when I asked you what I should do?"

"I told you to tell the truth."

"Well, between you and me, I told the truth," Graham continues to stare at her. "But it did nothing, Doctor," He reveals. "They strapped me to a chair for twelve hours in a freezing cold room that smelt like old blood, straps dug into my wrists," He explains slowly like every word is an effort to get out. "But before those hours, they wheeled in a trolley filled with all sorts, knives, huge knitting needles, you name it, they threatened me with torture, told me to tell the truth, so I did, but it did nothing 'cos it doesn't work, torture that is."

"You never said," The Doctor's eyes are wide and locked on his. "Why didn't you say?"

"It never got that far, that lad, Tempika, he ran in, but it nearly did," Graham faces forward again. "I told them everything, but they never believed me 'cos what I was saying wasn't what they wanted to hear, so I doubt you telling them you're the Doc wouldn't have a difference in this situation," He snorts with effort. "Course, after the twelve hours I was dragged from the cell by the metal shackles they shoved on my bleeding wrists, forced into a truck, shot at, used as a human shield-" He pauses because he has to clear his throat, has to wipe at his eyes. "I thought Yaz was dead, I thought Ryan was dead, I thought you were gonna die, I thought that I'd never feel-"

"Graham-" The Doctor reaches her hand through the bars and holds onto his shaking shoulder. "-I never meant for any of that to happen to you-"

"If you died, if Ryan and Yaz were dead," Graham presses on through the tears. "Then what would've happened to me?" He questions the air. "Mykados was obsessed with me, well, no, not me, my face 'cos he thought I was his god and he wanted to know how I stole his face to the point that he was willing to torture it out of me even after I did what you told me to do," He cries, letting everything out that he buried. "Those twelve hours were the worse hours of my life 'cos I thought everyone I cared about was dead or about to die, and I didn't know what I would've done if that happened."

The Doctor stares at nothing because avoiding his eyes is easier. "You should've told me, Graham."

Graham chews the inside of his mouth. "And what good would have that done?" He wipes at his face. "It happened and telling you back then would've just made you feel guilty like you're feeling guilty now, Doc," He turns towards her again. "What I'm saying is that I know what I'm getting myself into because I've been in this situation before."

"Not to this extent."

"No," Graham laughs without amusement. "But maybe they'd slow down if my hand isn't healed."

The Doctor exhales with frustration and annoyance. "Graham-"

"What?"

"Get some rest."

"You're the one who woke me up."

The Doctor pulls her legs to her chest. "Just get some rest."

\----

A loud clang against the bars of Graham's cell awakens him in an instant.

"Get up-" A voice barks shortly after. "-now!"

"You don't have to shout at him," Ryan snaps from the opposite side of the room, his voice filled with sleepiness. "You don't have to hurt him either."

"Leave it, Ryan," Graham calls out. He feels a bit better, everything still hurts, but at least he managed to get some shut-eye. He looks towards his cell door when it swings open at the touch of Deverel's thumb.

"Show me your hand." Graham doesn't have a chance to, and he swears under his breath when Deverel yanks at the chain connected to his right wrist. "Why isn't it healed?"

Graham stares up at the revenged filled man above him. "I don't know-"

Deverel clenches his hand around Graham's right causing the injured man to cry out in pain. "Why isn't it healed?!" He demands again.

"Hey!" The Doctor is up against the bars in a flash. "Please-"

Deverel continues to squeeze the hand, grinning as he does it. "You don't like it when I do this?"

Graham's brows squeeze together, and he tries his hardest to free his hand, swallowing thickly.

"You've hurt him enough!" The Doctor shouts with anger. "Get off him!"

"You care about him?" Deverel asks with his head tilted. "How can you when he's responsible for the deaths of our people?" He finally lets go of Graham's bruised hand. "It seems I didn't break it when I stamped on it."

"You stamped on his hand?" Yaz yells from her corner. "That's barbaric-"

Deverel just laughs as he steps forward and begins unlatching Graham from his shackles and chains before yanking him up by the collar of his shirt, head tilting at an angle again when he looks at his brown leather jacket. "Always fancied myself a new jacket-" He says just before snatching the jacket from Graham's shoulders. He shoves it on and nods at it. "-a little bit of cleaning, and it'll be perfect."

"Hey, give that back to him-" Ryan commands from his cell. "-that's not yours to take! My nan gave it to him!"

He gets three pairs of eyes on him in an instant, each one as wide as saucers.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing-"

Deverel shakes his head and leaves Graham's cell, forgetting about the chains and the open door. "No, you said your nan gave him this jacket-" He steps towards Ryan's cell. "-what did you mean by that?"

Ryan's eyes flick around the room. "It was a present, that's all-"

"Why did she give him a present?" Deverel questions.

"It was just a present-"

Deverel's eyes narrow, and he steps back. He pulls the jacket open and begins looking through Graham's pockets, pulling out items and throwing it all to the floor. The only thing he keeps in his hand is a black square made of leather. "Psychic paper?" He murmurs to himself as he opens the square. "No-" His brows are furrowed together. "-it's a wallet-"

Graham picks himself off the floor; his stomach stuck in his throat.

Deverel throws a lot of it onto the floor and only keeps ahold of the wallet's last two items. A folded piece of paper that looks like a picture and a small pink bit of plastic. He opens the picture and stares at it. "Who is this woman, and why is he pictured with her?"

No one answers his question, each person locked in silence for fear of making it worse.

Deverel keeps the picture in his hand as he turns the pink plastic over, eyes flicking across it and then snapping to Graham and back again. "Who the hell is Graham O'Brien?" He snaps. "And why do you have the same face as him?"

Graham feels an icy chill creep across him. "It's me-" He says.

"But you're the Doctor-"

"Yes," Graham lies, trying his best to keep his features schooled. "But I- I needed a name."

"What?" Deverel steps towards Graham, his eyes are flicking between the picture and the man himself. "Why did someone like you need a name?"

Graham glances towards the Doctor, then to Yaz, and finally towards Ryan. "I needed a name to get married on Earth."

Deverel frowns at Graham. "You-" He blinks. "-someone married you?"

Graham looks away, left hand clenching.

"Why would someone want to marry you?" Deverel sneers at him. He looks at the picture again and then looks towards Ryan, his mind connecting the dots. "Oh-" His eyes widen. "-you said your nan gave him this jacket, so she must be the woman in this picture, which means-" There's a glint in his eyes and a grin on his face. "-the person in the cell opposite you is your family-"

"He's not-"

"You married his nan," Deverel concludes quickly. "He's guilty by default-"

Graham's head snaps up. "Don't you dare lay a finger on him, he has nothing to do with this!"

"You brought him into this," Deverel states with glee. "Hurting you is fine, but hurting him would cause you a lot of pain-" He smirks. "-you can feel what it's like to lose your family."

Graham feels fear, not for himself, but for Ryan. He pushes himself to his knees, just as Deverel turns around to stare at Ryan.

"I think we could do a lot-"

Graham grabs ahold of the bars, chest heaving with breath and anger. It boils and threatens to spill. He looks around his cell and locates the chains, his eyes flick back to Deverel again. Could he?

"-of harm to you-"

And then back to the chains. It's free from the wall. He reaches down to it and grabs it with his left hand, wrapping it around it before looking back at Deverel.

"Graham-" The Doctor shouts without thinking, she walks forward and tries to grab him through the cell. "-what are you doing?"

Graham ignores her; his eyes are locked on Deverel's back, watching as the man steps towards his grandson.

"-I think that would hurt the Doctor more than what we could actually do to-"

Deverel never gets a chance to finish his sentence as he finds himself cut off by a scared and fearful man looking to protect his family. Their bodies collide against the floor with Graham on top of Deverel's back.

"Graham, don't you dare-"

He ignores her again as he brings the chain down and around Deverel's neck, pulling upwards. His right hand screams in agony while Deverel's grabs frantically at the chain around his neck.

"Graham!" The Doctor and Yaz scream at the same time. 

The Doctor forces herself to the front of her cell. She yanks at the door, shaking it on its hinges. "Don't you dare! You're better than this!"

Graham hears them shouting his name, begging him to release the man under him, but all he sees is red. He knows the pain they caused, the scarring, and he can't-

"How the-"

A body slams into Graham sending him across the floor, the chain falling from his hands.

"Dev?" A male voice shouts as the owner's desperate hands turn the blue-faced man over. "Hey, Dev-"

"Parke, is he-"

"I don't know, Orlan-" Parke snaps. "Where is Arden?"

There isn't a response, but a man shoves Parke away from Deverel. His hands move over the man's body, finger checking for a pulse and then snapping to a pocket on his jacket. He pulls out an EpiPen and slams it into Deverel's chest before leaning back and waiting.

"Arden?"

Arden looks towards Parke and nods his head, he smiles briefly and puts a thumb up.

"Oh, thank the maker," Parke exhales with relief before he turns his furious eyes on to Graham. "Was killing thousands of us not enough for you?" He screams. "Just had to attempt to kill another?"

Graham merely stares back, his summoned anger vanishing in a moment when he realises what he nearly did. "I didn't mean to-" He confesses. "-I swear I didn't mean to-"

Parke launches himself across the room and grabs Graham by his shirt. He drives him back against Yaz's cell. "You just thought holding a chain around his neck wouldn't kill him?"

Graham can't say why he did what he did. His eyes meet the Doctor's, and he can't read the expression in them. Understanding? Disappointment? "I'm sorry-" He says to her and not to Parke. "-I don't know what came over me-"

"You attempted to kill him!" Parke shouts in his face. "And you're sorry for that?"

But Graham can only stare at the Doctor. "I'm sorry."

"I'll give you sorry!"

The Doctor holds onto the bars, eyes closing when the first punch flies forward, connecting against Graham. 

She can't look, but she has to.

\----

They all remain in silence.

Even hours later after the incident.

It's silence.

The only sound in the room is Graham's laboured breathing. He's chained back up in his cell, the mat and blanket removed, his shirt ripped and damaged, revealing the deep purple bruises forming upon his torso.

The Doctor managed to reach through the bars and pull him towards her. She tried her best to get him into a position that is the safest for him; unfortunately, that means she has to look at his bruised and bloodied face. It's swollen, probably a broken nose.

Oh, Graham.

She doesn't blame him for what he did, even though she suspects he thinks she does. The look on Ryan's face is one of guilt and shame, and Yaz, poor Yaz. The Doctor looks towards the young woman, and she sees the shock on her face—the one nearest to witness Graham's brutal beating.

To hear it.

Yeah, they stay in silence.

Silence is better.

The Doctor turns back to Graham again.

Now is the time to heal him, but she's not sure how it works now. Can she just do it? She's more than she was, but is she physically? Just how much did Tecteun altar their DNA?

But if she doesn't heal Graham, then he could slip away from the beating. She doesn't have the means to check him over for head injuries or internal ones. His breathing is already laboured, like every breath is a struggle.

She doesn't have a choice.

She has to heal him.

Even if it hurts or kills her, she has to save him.

Her hand reaches forward and presses against his chest, lighting them both up in golden light which causes Ryan and Yaz to look their way.

She holds it there, keeps it as long as she can, watching as the bruises and swelling fades, leaving his skin covered in light brown bruises, it's as much as she can do and she quickly falls to the floor, exhausted.

But Graham is safe for now because his eyes are flickering open with a golden glow.

One that shouldn't be there without her touching him.


	6. Chapter 6

"Graham?"

There's no answer from him. It seems the flickering of his eyes was involuntary, maybe a reaction from the unknown energy coursing through his human's body.

"Doctor?" Ryan calls out to her, panic evident on his face. "What's going on?"

"He's-" The Doctor frowns. She's exhausted, giving Graham that much regeneration energy has knocked her for six. It seems it has also affected the human man in a way she never once considered. "-I'm not sure what is happening, Ryan, he's healing-" She glances towards the young lad and forces a smile out. "-he's all right, Ryan," She lies. "Promise."

Ryan nods and turns back to staring at the wall in front of him. That foggy expression is locked on his young face. He's terrified.

And she's terrified as well, but for a far different reason.

The Doctor sighs and looks back at Graham again. He's not moved, and his eyes have faded back to the blue, although it's muted in colour like there is an almost a grey sheen to it. She reaches an arm through the bars and hovers it over him, frowning.

She feels the energy under his skin, collecting and not dispersing. This shouldn't happen. When they healed River's wrist, it was a flash, that was all. Then Davros, stolen energy, but planned.

But this?

This is different, completely different, and she's not sure why or how.

Does it have something to do with her knowing about the Timeless Child and the power they stole from them? Has that power always been within themselves? Trapped and locked away from them?

When the Master destroyed Gallifrey and opened up the truth behind their species, did that unlock everything for them like a key to a forgotten door?

These are questions that she worries she'll never get the answer to.

And now Graham has been altered somehow. If she knew that this would happen, would she have paused to think before healing him?

Probably not.

Graham needed to heal, and he wasn't going to do that by being human-

But is he still human? He feels human minus the energy swimming beneath his skin, coiled like a snake in his muscles and bones.

In her panic at losing someone else did she give him too much? Made it so he's a hybrid between the two? But what two? Not Time Lord considering she never was a Time Lord, not in the real sense, so what is he?

And what are they?

The Doctor watches him closely and considers her next move. She could test her theory; perhaps she could make a small cut on his hand and see if it heals, but-

No.

He's been hurt enough, and she won't be responsible for doing any more harm to him.

But she needs to know.

The Doctor glances towards Ryan and Yaz again and notices that the pair of them have settled themselves on the beds in their cells. She doubts they're sleeping, but they're hardly paying attention to what she's doing. She turns back to Graham again and leans against the bars. "Graham?" She whispers as she gently nudges him. "Gonna need you to wake up."

He doesn't respond again, and she scowls at him.

"Right," The Doctor mutters. She places her hand against Graham's head and begins nudging him back towards the waking world. He screws his face up under her hand and slowly flicks his eyes around before landing them on her face. "Graham, you're okay now-"

"No-" Graham speaks in a low voice. He turns over and faces away from her. "-leave me alone."

The Doctor's head tilts at an angle. She wasn't expecting that reaction, or the ability to move as freely as that after the beating he received. "Graham, I need to speak to you," She tries to get across to him. "There are things we need to talk about-"

"Leave me alone," Graham reaffirms, his voice gruff. "I don't want to hear it."

"Hear what?"

Graham huffs. "Just leave me alone, Doc, 'cos I'm not worth it after what I did."

"Graham," The Doctor tries again. "I need to know how you are-"

"I'm fine."

"You were-"

"I said I'm fine," Graham cuts her off. "I feel fine."

The Doctor glares at the back of his head. "I healed you."

"You shouldn't have bothered," Graham states with certainty. "Waste of time for someone like me."

The Doctor reaches through the bars and grabs Graham, forcing him to turn and face her. She goes to speak and stops when she spots the expression on his face.

Fear. Anger. Shame. Hate.

All mixed into one.

"Graham," The Doctor sighs. There is a pit in her stomach; it gnaws at her angrily. "I don't condone what you did, but I don't blame you for it-"

"You should."

"Maybe," The Doctor settles herself into a crossed-legged position. "But I don't."

"I was going to kill that man," Graham stares right through her. Their voices stay low, so they don't disturb the others. "I don't know what came over me-"

"You were scared and hurt, Graham," The Doctor reminds him as gently as she can. "That's an unhealthy mix."

"No excuse for attempted murder, though, is it?" Graham looks away from her and towards the dried bloodstain on the floor next to Yaz's cell. "I remember every punch and kick," He mumbles. "I remember when my nose broke, I remember when Parke broke my ribs," His eyes grow distant and foggy. "The pain, Doc-" He looks back at her. "-I- I never-"

"Don't," The Doctor interjects, and there is an edge to her voice. "-I fixed the wounds-"

"But not the memories," Graham counters her in a flash. "They beat me until I passed out," He swallows thickly. "They would've done that to Ryan."

"How are you truly feeling, Graham?"

Graham focuses on her face again. "Better, like you said, the injuries they caused have been healed, but- I don't know, Doctor, I really don't, it's just ongoing, always ongoing with them."

"Do you feel any pain, at all, Graham?"

"I feel aches, but no pain even though I know I should be in agony right about now, even feel somewhat refreshed when I know I shouldn't feel like that at all," He pulls himself into a sitting position, careful not to rattle the chains on his wrists. "You said you healed me."

"Yeah."

"Thanks, I guess."

Uncomfortable silence lingers between them.

"I need to talk to you about that."

Graham looks towards her. "It's killing you or something, isn't it?" The Doctor shakes her head. "Then what is it?" He questions. "Cos you look like it's killing you."

"You're blunt."

"Being blunt is the last of your worries after being tortured," Graham mutters under his breath, but the comment strikes the Doctor full force in the chest, and she can see that Graham knows it did by the look on his face. "I'm sorry, Doc, that was not fair on you then."

"It's-"

"Don't say it's all right 'cos it ain't."

"Healing you isn't harming me, Graham," The Doctor reassures, wishing to change the subject again. However, she's not actually sure what it's doing to her. They said they granted them a whole new cycle, but what if they always had a cycle and it was barred from them? Her courage to speak to Graham begins to wane. "I just want to know how you're feeling after being healed?" She tries. It hides enough and gives her answers.

Graham's face screws up as he thinks. Her eyes linger on the long scar on his face. From an open wound to a fresh pink scar to a long healed one now. The indent is still on his face, and she's sure that will remain forever, but it looks old now.

"My hand is fine," Graham extends his right hand and rotates it. "My face feels okay as well," His left hand trails the scar while his eyes begin to look distant. He shakes his head and glances down at his ruined shirt. Old blood riddles it, a mix of brown and bright red to show the length of time between each stain. "My ribs are healed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Graham nods. "I was tackled in footy once when I was a lad, nasty tackle, landed hard on my right side and fractured a rib, took an age to heal-" His brows furrow together. "-but it's healed now, fancy that, modern medicine when you know an alien called the Doctor."

The Doctor looks away from him. "I need to get us out of here."

"Yeah," Graham mumbles. "About that."

"What?"

Graham focuses on her face. "I might have an idea, but I don't think you're going to like it at all, Doc."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fancied giving graham a break and something nice
> 
> also it should be noted that the graham i write is bisexual
> 
> cw: one use of the word fairy in a negative manner, but like, go with it because it makes sense, and involuntary drug use
> 
> :)

"Absolutely not, Graham, you are not doing it, and that's final."

"Knew you'd say that."

"It's not an option."

"It might be the only option."

The Doctor pinches the bridge of her nose. "That's if they listen to you."

Graham rolls his shoulders and shuffles himself on the floor. "They took my mat and blanket," He complains like that's the most pressing issue they're currently facing. "Now, I have nothing."

"Don't change the subject, Graham," The Doctor narrows her eyes at the older human. "You're not doing it."

"You don't really have a choice in that, Doc," Graham counters her with a quick look. "I'm the Doctor; I can do what I want."

"Don't get smart with me, Graham."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"You're a stubborn fool," The Doctor glares at him. "Stupid pudding brained apes the lot of you, why do I bring you lot along? A jellyfish from the second moon of Bostea would be better."

"Wow," Graham replies sarcastically. "Pissheads on the bus have called me worse than that, Doc," He states. "Usually started with a c or a w, but I'll make sure to stick that down in my book of insults."

"I don't want you doing this," The Doctor says. "You're in my protection, and I'm failing you."

"You sound like my mum," Graham snorts. "Not my dad, he's a dick, but definitely my mum," He frowns. "That's weird."

"I'm over two-thousand, Graham."

"Huh."

"And I still don't want you doing this."

Graham exhales at that and stares ahead and into Ryan's cell. As much as the Doctor doesn't want him doing, and if he's honest with himself, he doesn't really want to be doing this.

It's a simple test of wills, can he last long enough to escape or will he die or have something worse happen?

Now, everyone has been punched before in some form or other; in his case, it was at a footie match in the eighties—West Ham vs Arsenal. West Ham won, he came away with a great big shiner that his mother fussed about for the next two weeks.

If only it were that simple now.

Because being punched once is one thing, but the punches then flew fast and aggressive—the first in the face, enough to daze him in one go. Seemed Parke knew this because he moved lower and left the head alone; the last thing he wanted was for Graham to pass out before he got started.

Soon enough, Parke got bored of punching and started kicking. That's when Graham felt his ribs break; the ones weakened all those years ago. He heard it, Yaz heard it. She sobbed in her cell; he was in too much pain to offer any comfort to anyone.

But there was shouting and rage flying in from the corners of the room, although, the blood pumping through his ears drowned out their voices.

God, when did he pass out? Sometime after Parke started his assault on his head. First punch, second punch, third punch, the fourth smacked him on the nose, cracking it. That's where the majority of the fresher blood came from thinking about it.

Honestly, Graham loses track around that time. It's all foggy and blurry, and the only thing he remembers is vivid dreams of horror and then the Doctor telling him to wake up.

At least that wasn't in pain, unlike the previous times.

Having a knife run down your face while you're aware is something that you could never imagine. It's like when you're cutting a bread roll, and you accidentally catch your hand in the process because you decided to throw the advice your mum gave you out of the window.

Yeah, well, it's that, but instead of being a bread knife, it's a bloody dagger wielded by a madman. That's a scar Graham will have to learn to live with now.

The shock baton was a walk in the park compared to everything else. It makes Graham wonder what they'll do next. Could be anything really. Still, he has his plan and if he can, if there is a chance in hell that they will listen then maybe, just maybe he can persuade them to release the Doctor, Ryan, and Yaz on the grounds that they're only 'human' and they had nothing to do with what happened back on the planet they called home.

It's a big ask, but it's the only idea he has.

And if it works then the Doctor gets the TARDIS back; she can figure something out, she'll come back and rescue him.

Hopefully.

Even if she didn't at least Ryan and Yaz and she will be safe, and Graham is content with that. Course, he'd rather leave as well, but it's evident that won't be an option at all.

So it's that or nothing.

And he'll rather have that over nothing 'cos the nothing is death, and he's not fond of that idea.

The sound of a door opening pulls Graham from his thoughts, and he looks through the bars. His head tilts to the side, and he frowns, sharing a glance with the Doctor before turning back to the figure now opening his cell door.

It's Arden the silent.

And-

Oh.

That's really not ideal.

"Hey-" Graham's raises his hands, eyes widened when he spots the EpiPen-like device. "-what the hell is that?"

Arden merely approaches him.

"What are you injecting him with?" The Doctor demands from her cell. "You helped your friend earlier," She points out. "Seemed to know what you were doing, are you a doctor?"

There is no answer.

The commotion at Graham's cell draws Ryan and Yaz's attention, and they are at their bars, hands wrapped around them, eyes locked on the scene.

Graham tries to pull himself away from Arden's touch, but he finds his head yanked to the side and a moment later, there is a sharp pinprick in his neck.

Arden is gone as fast as he came, the door slamming shut behind him and Graham is left baffled by the exchange. He rubs at his neck and scowls.

"What did he do?" Ryan shouts across the room.

"Injected him with something," The Doctor informs the two younger members of the team. "I don't know what it was," She faces Graham again. "Do you feel any different, Graham?"

Graham's mouth opens and quickly closes again when he finds it dry. His head feels woozy, and it's a struggle to keep his body held upright.

"Graham?" Yaz calls out to him, her voice hoarse from the lack of use.

Graham blinks when the world turns on its head. "Doc-"

"Yeah?"

"I think- I think I'm gonna pass out or something-" Graham slurs his words. "Like now-"

The Doctor reaches into his cell and helps direct him towards the floor. "Try to fight whatever it was, Graham-"

Graham can only grimace in response. It's a losing battle, whatever it was is strong, and his vision fails him, leaves him in darkness that slowly breaks to light. His eyes blink and flick around the room he's in.

A room he never wanted to be in again, and he's struck by sudden deja-vu.

His nightmare.

Maybe this is meant to be a torture? Drag up his biggest shame and make him listen to himself for hours.

Funny.

That would be not very pleasant if he didn't just recently go through the exact same thing.

As if on cue, Grace walks into the room, chart in hand. She speaks informing him about the cancer, how it's come back, and yeah, he's scared, but well, this doesn't really have the same feel as it did before.

Last time he was horror-stricken at seeing his wife, the blame she threw at him, the guilt he holds himself.

'You should've been the one to die.'

'It should've been me.'

Maybe it doesn't feel the same because he's already dealt with this, or maybe he's seen worse things. Maybe they assume he'll be seeing the after-effects of the radiation, but considering he never actually did what the Doctor did that isn't happening.

"You're not listening to me."

Graham frowns at that and finally turns his attention towards Grace. "You're not real, love," He sighs. "Been through this before, not real."

Grace, well, her memory stares through him. "Then we'll have to try something else."

Graham feels that same woozy feeling again. The world falls out from under him, winding him in the process. He feels a soft bed, the sounds of the eighties coming from the bedside table, and thunderous feet storming up the stairs.

And that's where it clicks into place. He jumps out of bed as fast as he can, heart hammering in his chest. His eyes catch his appearance in the mirror—all the lines gone from his face, minus the scar he presumes. It pulls his attention away from the door, enough to distract him from the genuine panic of his childhood storming towards his bedroom.

"He's a waste of time, Miriam!" The baritone voice of his father, Richard, shouts. "He got himself fired from his job!"

"It wasn't his fault-"

"You're always finding excuses for the waste of space, my brother has a better son, his cousin is training to be a lawyer and all we have is a lazy good for nothing fairy."

Graham snaps his eyes from the mirror and locks them onto his bedroom door, the back of it covered in a Trevor Brooking poster. He doesn't have enough time to to think before the door flies open, revealing his father.

"Why'd you get fired this time?" Richard barks at him.

And Graham honestly has to think. What was it?

"Well?!"

Remember. Remember.

Ah.

God, the eighties sucked in retrospect, and he was stupid for being reckless in his decisions about who to kiss in front of his boss. The kiss being his then-boyfriend.

"We didn't-" His younger voice catches him off guard.

"You didn't what?"

Now, that didn't happen before, which gives Graham an idea. He's not the scared nineteen-year-old anymore, he's the sixty-year-old man who has had worse thrown at him throughout the years.

And he's the same sixty-year-old who isn't ashamed about being different.

"I didn't agree with his politics," Graham stands tall. "Not that you'd understand that, Richard," The use of Richard's name said in the least amount of respect possibly causes him to smirk. "Felt it was better to call it quits."

But is goading the dream version of your abusive dad a smart idea to have? Probably not, but it's not like Richard can physically hurt him now.

"You think you're clever, don't you?" Richard steps into his room. "I'll give you clever."

Graham steps towards him. "You're not real," He says with faith. "You're dead, my mum is dead, so you're not real, you can't hurt me, you can't kick me out of the house like you did before, you can't do anything that scared me when I was a kid."

The words have the desired effect and the edges of his room begin fading away, then his dad, his fear for years vanishes. His mum is the only thing left behind, her kind eyes watching him. This isn't real, but maybe he could hug her one last time.

He closes the gap between them and pulls her into a hug, tears in his eyes.

It's pretty funny, this was meant to be something to hurt him, but they've done the opposite, gave him something he hasn't had in years.

And in some ways, he's grateful for that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two updates today because i'm that bitch
> 
> also, thanks to the people who are reading this! it's such a thing, like i know I'm putting graham through some serious hell, but it's something i wanted to tackle for a while and like, the after-effects are things i like to explore
> 
> seriously, it's interesting and i did it with possession and prison break, because if there is angst then there needs to be after care
> 
> thanks again! :)

Drifting.

Somewhere between the boundaries of consciousness is where Graham finds himself. The image of his mother faded a long while ago, but he still lingers behind in that darkness—specks of gold flicker through the air with high whining energy.

Unbounded and free.

Graham reaches out to them and runs his hand through a them, frowning at how they move and feel. They coalesce in his hand like a fire that doesn't burn before dispersing outwards again.

It's baffling because he feels as if it's drawn to him.

And it's growing like it's pushing the darkness away or cleaning it up. He's pretty sure it's clearing it all up, his senses are coming back to him. Course, he can't see, but he can heal muffled voices coming from all around him.

Urgent?

Worried?

One of the muffled voices speaks loud and stern—a man's voice.

Huh, interesting.

He's pretty sure no one speaks in a voice like-

That train of thought skids off the beaten track and slams headfirst into the freezing River Chelmer in Essex and Graham suddenly finds himself gasping awake and shivering.

"You're awake, good."

Graham grips onto the armrests of the chain he's strapped to and sucks in air, eyes blinking the water clear. "A shove would've woken me up for Pete's sake!" He snaps without thinking.

"That was far more fun, Doctor," Orlan sneers down at him. "Did you enjoy your little sleep? It's a proper trip, Arden is very good with medicine."

"Ah, yeah," Graham forces a grimace onto his face. Play along, go with it, let them think you suffered. "Wouldn't rate it that high if I'm honest."

"You think you're hilarious, don't you?" Orlan folds his arms across his chest and rests his right hand under his chin. "You nearly killed our friend."

Graham shouldn't, he knows he shouldn't, but he just can't help himself. "Your friend, and you, all of you, have tortured me, and you expect me to take that sitting down?"

"No."

Now that surprises Graham.

"You're a fighter when it suits you," Orlan discloses with a pointed look. "You did fight to save everyone, but then you gave up, picked the easier choice and stopped us from reverting the changes you made."

"I made my choice," Graham looks away from Orlan and glances around the room. "Where are the others?" He changes the subject.

"My brother is with the man you tried to murder," Orlan answers. "And Parke is getting something ready, a little treat for you."

Okay, Graham does not like the sound of that at all.

"So, it's just us then," Graham leans back in the seat as casually as he can given the circumstances. "Will you indulge me for a moment?"

Orlan's eyes narrow by a fraction. "What do you want?"

Play it cool, Graham, just play it cool.

"My friends," Graham stares up at the troubled man in front of him. "Let them go."

"No."

"They won't do anything; I'll make sure of it, promise."

"And you expect us to trust you after you tried to kill Dev?"

Graham shakes his head. "No, I don't," He admits as he tries to force his features into an expression that he's sure the Doctor would have. "But I like to think you're a decent person even after the torture."

"What is your game here?"

"Let them go home," Graham lays his demands on the proverbial table. "They don't need to see you hurting me, you lot said you didn't want to hurt them, and you have fed and clothed them, so that much is true," He points out. "So, by letting them watch the results of the torture on me, you're hurting them as well, and they had nothing to do with this 'cos it's between you four and me."

It's a risky play, but Graham hopes it'll pay off.

"What did you feel when you found your friend, hurt and injured, you were angry and scared, right?" Graham risks it with that question and statement. "Well, they were as well."

"They will get help," Orlan replies, untrusting.

"They're human," Graham bluffs, hoping that he pulls it off. "They don't know how to fly the TARDIS, and as much as you don't like me and trust me, the feeling is mutual, but I just want them to get home, to live the rest of their lives free."

Orlan shifts on his feet before snapping his eyes to the space behind Graham. "Is it ready?"

"Take his shirt off-"

Graham's eyes widen, and he tries to lean as far away from Orlan as he can, but with his arms and legs strapped down, that's not far enough. "Hey-" He scowls at the man as he finds his tattered shirt ripped away from him. It's not that he wanted to actually keep the bloodied and torn shirt, but at least wearing it made it feel like he had a bit more protection.

"You don't need a shirt for what we have planned."

"And what's that?" Graham glares at Parke as he steps around to the front of the chair.

"This," Parke grins. He lifts up a metal rod, brandishing it with glee.

Graham stares at the red hot poker with dread. If it's anything like touching the hot handle to a saucepan or spilling scalding water across your hand from the kettle, then Graham fully expects that he's about to have the worse time of this week.

And that is saying something.

"Nothing I say will change your mind, will it?" Graham tries, he really does.

"No, it won't," Parke snaps at him. "This is for what you did to Dev-"

Graham's eyes squeeze shut when the poker is jabbed forward and pressed against his chest. He was right, scalding water and a saucepan have nothing on this. It takes everything he has within him not to scream or throw up.

The smell of burnt, sizzling flesh hits him next like crackling from pork belly, and that does make him gag.

Parke yanks the poker away and begins to move it over to the other side, only he pauses when there's high whine. The sound the same as the one in Graham's dream.

And that catches Graham's attention as well because the painful burn begins to fade away. He glances down, joining the gazes of Parke and Orlan.

Golden energy spills out over the wound, knitting the flesh back together into a small scar. The golden light lingers for a moment longer before vanishing altogether like wisps.

"That never happened before-"

But Graham tunes out the two men and their hurried conversation. His eyes remained locked on the spot that he was burnt. He'd touch it if he could because this isn't possible; it shouldn't be possible. He's human, he doesn't heal with golden light, that's the Doctor's job, so why the hell is he suddenly glowing gold?

"Move-" Orlan speaks this time, dragging Graham's attention up to them for a flash. He shouts out this time when the poker is jabbed into his chest again and yanked back. The same energy glows again, sealing the wound back up into a tiny scar. "-how is that possible?"

That's a question Graham would very much like to know the answer to.

"Is it just when we burn him?"

"I don't know," Parke looks baffled. "Let me check-"

Graham pulls back from the blade that sliced his face. He winces when he feels it dragged across his bare arm—the same whine sounds, followed by the golden glow.

"You kept this hidden from us!" Parke snaps at him. "Or chose when to use it, didn't you?"

"I-" Graham looks up at the man in front of him. He has to think fast, make up an excuse or something. "It's limited," He lies poorly. "It's just limited, that's all-"

"What is?"

"The healing, I can't do it all the time," Graham lies, growing to hate that he has to.

Is that even true? Graham has no idea; all he knows is that he needs a long conversation with the Doctor.

"Well, then," Parke smirks down at Graham. "We'll just have to see how limited it really is."

\----

He knows he should be riddled with pain right now, and he is, but it's minor compared to what it first felt like. If it was that same level of agony, then he'd pretty sure they'd be carrying him back to his cell, but instead he's walking.

In silence, though.

Because every poke, every slash, punch, stab, you name it, healed.

Over and over.

The only remains and evidence are the tiny scars they left behind. Orlan threw a t-shirt at him, not clean by any stretch of the word, but at least it's not wet or covered in blood. It covers the ones on his chest up, but the ones they made on his forearms are there for the world to see. Little white marks dotted over his skin.

He's pretty sure they'll fade over time, but the marks will cause questions to be asked.

Questions he doesn't know the answer to until he finally gets a chance to speak to the Doctor and ask-

-just what the hell did she do to him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things get very angsty in this chapter
> 
> CW: blood and chains

Nervous. Scared. Terrified. Anxious.

Ryan could go on and on. He fidgets on the best of days, but this, this is worse. He's picking at his clammy hands, pulling at his clothes because they're itchy.

And it's hot.

Why is it hot?

"Ryan-" A voice whispers from behind him. Calming. "-you need to breathe, all right?"

Ryan squeezes his eyes shut. "Breathe."

"Yeah."

"I can do that," Ryan nods and turns around to face his friend. She looks like he feels. Eyes ringed with black, tear-streaked cheeks. "Wanna breathe with me?"

Yaz cracks a tiny smile at that and slumps down on the floor next to Ryan's cell. "You're scared, aren't you?"

"They took Graham away when he was still knocked out from whatever they drugged him with," Ryan slumps down next to her. He feels her warmth through the bars separating them. "Course, I am bloody scared about him."

"I am as well," Yaz mutters in the tiniest voice she can manage. "I- I never-"

"Hey-" Ryan slips his hand through the bars and takes her hand in his. "-none of us expected that to happen."

"Graham was so angry and scared for you," Yaz sobs against the bars. "I've never seen him like that, and then that man, he beat him up, it was cruel."

Ryan grimaces and looks away. He plants his eyes against the floor. "I was stupid to say what I did, and now Graham got-"

"No."

"What?"

"You're not stupid, Ryan," Yaz comforts him. "This entire thing is something we have never faced before."

Ryan nods and swallows thickly over the lump in his throat. "He was going to kill that guy, Yaz, and then that guy was gonna kill him, if it weren't for the other one, then he could've actually done it."

"I know."

"Thing is, I wouldn't blame Graham at all if he did actually kill the guy who stole his jacket," Ryan murmurs while his free hand traces a pattern into the dusty floor. "They'd tortured and scarred him."

Yaz can't reply. Killing is something that she can't picture Graham doing, but she watched, she screamed at him to stop and yet he continued to pull the chain tight around the man's neck. "They did."

"You think he was wrong?"

"Killing that guy, Ryan, it would've stayed with him forever," Yaz mumbles under her breath, unsure how Ryan will take this. "I'm glad he didn't, glad he doesn't have it on his conscience."

Ryan exhales and leans his head back against the bars. "I'm glad as well even though I wouldn't have held it against him," He admits. "He was doing it to protect me and look what happened, that other bloke beat the shit out of him-" He glances towards the Doctor in her cell. She looks out of it, eyes distant as she stares blankly into Graham's empty cell. "-if it weren't for the Doctor then he would be dead right now, or if not dead, dying from god knows what injuries."

Yaz follows Ryan's gaze and focuses on the Doctor as well. "I never knew she could heal," She says. "She said that she shouldn't heal him, but she did then, and it was a lot, we both saw the golden light coming from her."

"Maybe it has something to do with the thing she learnt on her home planet?"

"Maybe."

"I'm glad for it though," Ryan states with absolute faith. "As long as she keeps doing that for as long as she can, then Graham will live until we can figure a way out of here."

"But how long will that be, Ryan?" Yaz asks a question he cannot answer. "And how much more can Graham take mentally?"

Ryan looks into his lap. "He won't be the same, will he?" He wonders aloud. "I read that torture doesn't actually work; it just hurts and hurts, but never gets results."

Yaz squeezes Ryan hand. They're friends, and she classes him as the brother she never had, so to see him in such pain hurts her so much. "We will do everything we can for Graham when we get out of here, all right?"

"Yeah," Ryan nods. "When we get out."

\----

The moment Graham reenters the room where their cells are, he spots everyone snapping their attention to him with a horror-stricken expression that quickly turns to confusion.

And he knows why.

Every other time he entered this room again he's been hurt in some form or other, but not this time. This time he has a fresh shirt on, not clean by any stretch of the imagination, but cleaner than the last one, that's for sure. The next major thing is the fact that he doesn't have blood or bruises on him, or marks really and that's because they healed far too fast.

For a human anyway.

"You all right?" Ryan shouts from his cell, his eyes travelling across every inch of Graham looking for injuries. "They didn't hurt you?"

"I'm fine, Ryan, just dandy," Graham grunts at him, unwilling to show affection lest he gives it away again. "Just worry 'bout yourself, okay?"

"Get in your cell," Parke shoves him through the open door and towards the shackles. "And we're not as stupid as you think," He says which causes Graham to frown. "Orlan, get the chains and remove them- wait-" He turns towards Orlan. "-I have an idea."

"What?"

"Shackle him to the bars-" Graham narrows his eyes at them, stepping back. "-with his back facing us."

"And what are you going to do?"

"You'll see."

Fighting back didn't work before, so Graham allows Orlan to chain him up. It's uncomfortable, to say the least, but at least they granted him a chance to kneel rather than standing or being held by his arms.

Although he's sure his knees will not like this one bit.

The Doctor stares at him, and he stares back at her. She averts her eyes first, which isn't her character at all. "You doing okay-"

It's instant.

That rattle of a chain on the floor.

And then the crack against his back.

Twice.

In quick succession.

The silence in the room could make it so they could all hear a pin drop.

Because that was brutal, even for the four revenge filled men.

"Parke?" Orlan seems surprised.

"What?" Parke stares back at him. "The burns and the slashes didn't affect him; maybe this won't as well-"

Graham has clenched his jaw so tight, his eyes are wide, and his breathing laboured. If he wasn't already kneeling, he knows that would've sent him to his knees.

And so much for a fresh shirt, he feels the blood running down his back in waves.

The Doctor moves forward and clasps her hands in his, holding them like that will remove the agony from his back.

"Haven't you done enough already!" Ryan yells from his cell. "There was no need for that at all-" He yanks on the bars, enraged and furious. "-you're monsters, all of you, brutal evil monsters-"

"Ryan-" Graham turns his head to face his grandson, tears spot in the corner of his eyes, his voice shaking with every effort that it takes to talk. "-close your eyes, lad, all right?" Screw the pretending. "Don't want you seeing this."

The chain rattles across the floor again, and Graham tries his best to prepare himself for the hit that he expects to come.

But it never does.

"That's enough, Parke," Orlan states, yanking it free from his grip and throwing it away. "We can hurt him when he's away from his friends, but doing it in here where they can watch-" His eyes flick to the three other people. "-we said we weren't going to harm them, but we are-"

"He'll heal," Parke snaps back at him. "Any moment now, he'll heal!"

"That doesn't make it right for them to witness it!" Orlan shouts at Parke. "He said that much to me while you were getting everything ready-"

"Why were you talking to scum like that?" Parke retorts. "He's just trying to get into your head, and anyway, it doesn't matter because he's going to heal any minute now!"

Graham's eyes close, and he pleads with whoever is listening to not heal, not in here, not in front of them, not before he gets a chance to ask the Doctor what she bloody well did to him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ryan demands. "He can't heal!"

Graham catches the look in the Doctor eyes, and that tells him all he needs to know.

She knew.

Or she at least expected something happened to him.

"He never said?" Parke focuses on Ryan. "Watch-"

The burning sting in Graham's back begins to lessen, and he knows it's coming whether he wants it to or not. It's not like he can control it.

"See?" Parke says the moment the low ringing starts, it grows higher and higher, louder and louder. "Your Doctor never told you he could heal-"

"But-" Ryan stammers, eyes wide and locked on his grandad as the golden light spills out across his cell from his back. "-but-"

"We'll leave you alone to have this little chat," Parke sneers at them before stalking from the room.

Orlan looks around the room for a moment before he steps forward and unlocks Graham from the bars. He leaves his hands free and quickly leaves the cell, locking the door and turning to leave the room altogether.

As soon as the door to the room shuts, Ryan and Yaz launch into questions, voices overlapping each other.

"Stop-" Graham takes in a deep breath and stares at them. The pain in his back is gone, but he knows there will be a scar. "-just stop, all right?"

"You healed," Yaz speaks. "How did you heal?"

Graham stares at her for a moment before turning his head to the Doctor. Her eyes are focused on him. "Doctor?" He says. "Would you like to answer that?"

The Doctor feels two more pairs of eyes on her. "I can't-"

"Can't or won't?" Graham narrows his eyes at her. "Why the hell am I healing with the same light that comes from you? I'm just a human, and humans don't do that the last time I bleeding checked!"

"I don't know, Graham," The Doctor answers with honesty. "That has never happened before when I healed others, they just got healed, but you-" She genuinely doesn't know. "-I have no idea without running scans and checking you over."

"But it's happened now," Graham points out in a panic. "They burnt me, Doc, and then cut me, each time it healed in a flash-"

"If the others healed in a flash, then why did it heal like that then? A lot slower and all," Ryan wonders aloud. "What made it different?"

Graham stares at Ryan and shrugs. "It-" His brows furrow and he looks away. It might not hurt now, but he remembers the pain. The feel of the chain cutting into the flesh on his back-

Like he felt every burn and every cut and-

His hands clench, and he falls back from the bars, landing hard onto the floor. "God-" He breathes heavily. "-it hurt, you don't know what it was like-"

"Graham?" The Doctor leans as far as she can into his cell.

Is this his lot now? They hurt him, he heals, they do it again, and it repeats and repeats and repeats and repeats-

"They will just continue forever-" Graham exclaims. "-you've made this so much worse, Doc, 'cos now they got no reason to care," He stares at her when he realises the truth, and in his panic, he doesn't notice how cutting his words are to the alien woman. "If they don't have to worry about killing me then they will do that again and again-"

"Gramps," Ryan calls out. "It ain't gonna continue, all right? We're getting out of here-"

"But it is-" Graham retorts in fear. "-none of us knows how to get out of these cells, and they watch us, they will stop us-"

"Then let me do this, Graham," The Doctor looks intently at him. "You don't have to do this any longer-"

Graham stares back at her; eyes narrowed in thought. "But you don't heal."

"What?"

"You-" He gestures a hand at her. "-when you got hurt back on that junk planet it knocked you for six for ages, if you could've healed, you would've done it in a jiffy while we stopped that Pting thing," He remembers clearly. "Then there were all those other times-"

"Graham-"

"You can't heal, can you?"

The Doctor averts her eyes. "I heal faster than a regular human," She mumbles. "Everything else I regenerate."

"But you made it so I heal now, Doc," Graham concludes. "So, I'm not like you, but-" His brows crease together. "-if I'm not like you, then what am I?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry
> 
> or am i


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe

It was planned. 

Every single bit of it was planned.

But that went out of the window like a sack of potatoes when it turned out that their most hated enemy travelled with three instead of one this time around.

It's never as simple as you plan it out, although, catching them was easy enough. You just had to observe them, watch as they wandered aimlessly around the city. 

It was only a matter of time before the fools split up, and that's when they all struck.

Dev and Parke went after the Doctor and the lad that was with him. He and Arden went after the two women. It was Arden's little miracle that made it go smoothly and Dev's work with the dart that stunned the Doctor and the lad. The risky one, the lad was just collateral damage.

The weapons held in his and Arden's hands ferried the two women back to the abandoned prison complex due for demolition next year.

Funnily enough, it was luck that they stumbled upon the Doctor and his friends. There was no mistaking the blue box nestled down an alley, or their surprise when they found it.

It was like the maker rolled out the red carpet for them to enact their revenge.

But he knew at the time that they should've just taken the Doctor and left the others behind, but Parke insisted that they all come and now look what has happened. Dev got cocky and stupid and nearly paid for that with his life. Parke went off the deep end, and he's not too sure where his friend is at right now. Arden still doesn't speak, but that won't change anytime soon.

And for Orlan himself, he can't help but think about what the Doctor said to him. His friends are being tortured by being here watching it. When the chain struck the Doctor in the back, he glanced towards the two youngest and saw the horror and fear in their eyes.

They're too young for this.

Why didn't he see it before? The lad and the girl, probably near to Arden's age when the disaster happened, if they carry on, would they end up like his brother? Mute and riddled with PTSD?

But Parke would disagree with letting them go.

And that leaves Orlan with a hard decision that could have disastrous consequences for him and his brother.

Is he willing to risk the only family he has for people he doesn't even know?

\----

"You are human," The Doctor locks her eyes onto Graham's face. "Nothing can change that, Graham."

"Am I?" Graham scoffs. "Tell me, then, how many other humans can heal like that then, Doctor? Cos I don't think they do."

"Jack can."

"What?"

"Jack can heal like that," The Doctor stares at Graham, her eyes filled with guilt and shame. "I never meant for this to happen, Graham, like I never meant for it to happen to Jack, but you're different from him, I know that much."

"You mean the man that took us?" Yaz questions.

"Yeah," The Doctor rubs a hand down her face. "I'll figure it out, Graham."

Graham avoids her gaze and stares at his hands instead. They look the same weathered hands, wrinkled and now covered with a decent helping of muck and dried blood, but internally, are they the same? Is he the same? He kicks out his legs, frowning softly because his knees don't protest and they should protest. The constant throbbing in his lower back has vanished. Every ache and pain he had with age is just-

-gone like it never existed. He feels like he's in his twenties again and that's impossible.

"Gramps?" Graham sighs and looks towards Ryan. "We can figure this out, all right?"

"Yeah," Yaz nods along to Ryan's promise. "We're a fam; we stick together."

Graham looks away and stares back at his dirty hands again. He probably shouldn't be silent with them, but he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't even know what to say to himself if he's honest. It's scary. All of it is. That chain, he's felt pain before, a lot of pain, but that was something else.

"Graham," The Doctor calls out once again. "I can check you over-"

"Why?" Graham mutters, voice monotone and flat. "What is the point?"

"I might be able to see what is going on with you."

"I heal, Doc, kinda obvious, ain't it?"

"You know that wasn't what I meant," She corrects. "I want to see where he struck you for one thing as well as something else."

Graham exhales before picking himself up from the floor. He heads over to his last spot by the bars and settles himself into a sitting position.

"Thank you," The Doctor utters as she moves over. "Can I look?"

Graham turns around so his back is facing the alien woman. He feels her lift the shirt. "Is it there?"

"No," The Doctor drops the bloody shirt. "But there are two light scars running across your back."

Graham turns back around and leans against the wall. His eyes drift down to his lap while the Doctor's hand extends through the bars and hovers near his head. "Can I have a look like before, Graham?"

Graham shrugs in response before nodding his head.

The Doctor presses her mouth into a thin line before she rests her hand against the side of Graham's head. This is the most contact that she has had with the elder human; usually, she keeps contact like this to a minimum because humans are so noisy.

But this is a special occasion because she needs to see into his head, find out his mental state and perhaps figure out what the regeneration energy is doing in him. It should've vanished by now, but it hasn't, and she doesn't know why.

She pushes herself further into his mind, never probing too far, just enough to get a feel for whatever is going on within him. The most concerning thing she feels is Graham's thoughts, or lack of thoughts to be precise.

Usually, humans think about what they're going to have for dinner or what the weather will be like later, but it's radio silence for Graham. Which isn't to say he's not thinking, it's more like he's pulled himself away and retreated far into his mind.

The Doctor pulls herself back out as gently as she can, and she stares at the human man in front of her. His eyes are still locked against his hands and lap. "Graham?" She tries in a soft tone, frowning when he makes no motion that he heard her. "Did you want to eat something?"

Graham lifts his head a tad. "It won't solve anything, so what is the point?" He grunts. "And I don't even feel hungry."

"But it'll be good to get something inside of you," The Doctor explains like she's talking to a child, and in some respects, she is because compared to her he is but a child. "You can at least try it?"

"Fine," Graham murmurs and sits up straighter than before.

The Doctor forces a smile onto her face, and she hands over one of the bars to Graham. "That should refresh you," She reassures. "Very nifty little bar, designed in the twenty-fourth century to give you liquid and food at the same time, saved a lot of people throughout the years, and also gave you lot a lot of space to pack other stuff."

Graham pretends he didn't hear her. He opens the bar and begins nibbling at it. She's right, it does feel good to eat, and his mouth feels refreshed, like he's drunk a bottle of water.

But it is concerning that he's not been bothered about food or water. It's been several days since they've been captured from the market and city they were in and they've hardly fed and watered him. The others have been, but the only water he ever got was the bucket they threw over him.

His heart isn't in it, and he lowers the bar to his lap. "I'm gonna sleep."

"You didn't eat all of your-"

"I'm not hungry," Graham interjects as he faces away from all of them. "I ate what I could."

It's only a moment later when he feels the thud of a pillow and a blanket land next to him. He lifts his head and stares at it, bewildered.

"Use it, Graham."

"They will only punish me for-" Graham begins before cutting himself off. "-It doesn't matter, night."

He pulls the blanket over the top of him and lays his head against the soft pillow. His brain feels like it's wired on, but his eyes are closing by themself, and soon enough he falls into a deep sleep.

One that isn't plagued by dreams or nightmares. Instead, he's floating in inky blackness like he's Major Tom drifting through space. It's calming. Stars flicker in the far reaches of space.

Is this how the Doctor dreams? Of stars and galaxies and nebulas? Has he been granted insight into the alien woman that fell into their lives? She would never tell them this; they don't even know where her bedroom is.

It's weird because this is somewhat peaceful like he can feel the universe rolling around him.

He frowns when he feels a sharp jab into his back which is impossible considering he's floating at the moment, but there it is again, and he swears and groans, eyes snapping open. "What?"

"Get up, Graham," The Doctor whispers. "Someone is coming down the corridor-"

Graham exhales and picks himself up from the floor. He eyes the door with disdain. "How long was I sleeping for?"

The Doctor glances towards him. "Six hours."

"Six?"

"They haven't been back since, well-" The Doctor glances towards Ryan and Yaz, their eyes meeting. "-Arden came and fed us, he-" Her eyes flick to the door of Graham's cell. "-gave you a cup of water."

"Why would he-" Graham lowers his eyes to the cup before snapping them back up when the door opens.

It's Orlan and Arden.

And they're armed.

Graham pulls himself backwards in alarm while the Doctor jumps to her feet and storms towards the two men. "What are you doing with them?" She snaps, anger filtering into her voice. "You're not shooting anyone in here!"

"Get the doors, Arden," Orlan ignores the Doctor. "I'll keep them in my sight, and I'll make sure they won't want to cause an issue-" He informs everyone in the room by aiming his weapon through the bars at Graham. "-I'll shoot him if you do fight us."

Ryan, Yaz, and the Doctor share looks between themselves, eyes widening when each of their cells gets opened by Arden individually.

"What are you doing?" The Doctor approaches the open door slowly. Her movement is like a feral cat, unsure and untrusting.

"The Doctor spoke to me," Orlan finally addresses her, unknowing that he's actually speaking to the Doctor. "Made me realise something, and I'm fulfilling what he asked me to do-"

The Doctor's eyes snap to Graham in a flash, her nostrils flare. "You bloody stubborn idiot-" She spits at him.

"What?" Ryan storms from the cell, eyes wide. He halts when Arden aims his gun at him. "What is going on?"

"The Doctor told me to let you three go," Orlan speaks in a neutral tone. "Pointed out that by keeping you here we're torturing you just as much, said you had nothing to do with it, but-" His eyes flick to Arden and then to Yaz and Ryan. "-when Parke struck the Doctor with that chain, I saw the fear in your eyes, the same fear I saw in Arden's and-"

"You saw Arden in them," Graham says emphatically. "I understand."

"But I can't let you go-" Orlan stares at Graham, emotion in his voice, straining it. "-you hurt Arden, you're the reason he's-"

"It's fine," Graham replies calmly. "You listened to what I requested, and you granted it," He nods. "Thank you."

The Doctor, on the other hand, narrows her eyes at Orlan. "You care about us now, but-" She lifts her shirt and shows the burn in her side. "-you were happy to burn and shock me before."

Orlan eyes flick down to the burn and up again. "You fought back," He states. "It wasn't meant to harm you, and I was angry, we just found the man who murdered our people, I'm sorry for hurting you."

"But you were happy to hurt him," The Doctor looks down her nose at the brown-haired man. "Let my friend go with us; he's suffered enough as it is."

"Do-Jane," Graham catches himself. He pulls himself up and walks towards the bars. "-just go, all right?"

"Not without you-"

"Hey," Graham stares at her before he turns towards Orlan. "-can I hold her hand? She's like a daughter to me, you see, they all are-" Orlan's eyes narrow, but he nods his head, granting Graham his request. The moment Graham has the Doctor's hand in his he speaks mind to mind, hoping that she's listening. '-just go, Doc, then come back for me.'

'I can't leave you here, Graham.'

'Yes, you can, you have to,' He retorts through the grip. 'You have Ryan and Yaz with you, get them out of here, take them back to Sheffield, then if you can, figure out a way to get me out of here, call in a favour from a friend, call bloody Jack Harkness if you can, I don't care how,' His eyes remain locked to her face. 'Cos all I need you to do right now is leave before that guy wakes up and tells them that Ryan is my-'

"Enough-" Orlan presses the gun against Graham's head. "-leave now, or I'll shoot him, and I doubt he can come back from that-"

"Jane," Graham focuses upon the Doctor. "Go, please."

The Doctor shifts on her feet, stuck between two ideas before she exhales with anguish. "Brave heart, Doctor," She turns away. "Brave heart."

Graham watches them. He sees Ryan's realisation, the struggle he has when the Doctor grabs his and Yaz's hands, dragging them from the cellblock.

"No-" Ryan shouts. "We can't-"

Graham chokes back a sob. "It's all right, son," He says with tears in his eyes. "I'll be fine, promise you that."

The Doctor glances back one more time, their eyes meeting and Graham sees the expression on her face. Utter heartbreak and turmoil. He nods at her, and she nods back.

And then they're gone, vanished into the darkness of the run-down building.

Leaving him alone with his captors.

'Come on, Doc,' Graham thinks to himself. 'Cos I'm counting on you here.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :>


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the main part from the AU spilts off that i mentioned before
> 
> Thirteen was never arrested after TTC, they carried on travelling like they did before, she opened up about 'some' stuff, but not much etc

"Doctor-" Ryan pulls on her arm again, the second time in a span of mere minutes. "-we can't bloody leave him there! They will kill him!"

The Doctor yanks her arm free once more and stares at Ryan, eyes anguished and intense. "We are not leaving him there, Ryan-"

"But we are leaving-"

" ** _Ryan_** ," The Doctor snaps at the distraught lad. "We are not leaving him there, at least not for long-" She strides away again. "-but he's giving us a chance right now to get him out of here; If we try and rescue him now-" She takes in a deep breath, but it sits within her like a stone. "-this is the best chance we have, please-"

Yaz takes Ryan's hand and drags him along with them. "We will get Graham back, Ryan."

Ryan's face is filled with remorse and fear, cheeks wet with grief. "He's gone through a lot, Doctor-"

"I know."

"He doesn't have anyone with him right now-"

" ** _I know!_** " The Doctor exhales sharply. "He won't be there for long," She promises. "And he's strong-" She hopes anyway. She knows he is, but this level of abuse he's suffering with is something she never wanted anyone under her care to experience. "We will get him back; I won't leave him there for any longer than I have to-"

"But he will be left there," Ryan points out.

"Do you know where the TARDIS is, Doctor?" Yaz questions, deciding to change the topic at hand and focus on what they need to do. Her eyes flick around the darkened streets before they glance back to the building they've just escaped from. It's murky and shadowed in the low light and hidden from the horrors within.

The Doctor continues forward, never once stopping. She tastes the air, smells it, reaches out for the touch of her faithful craft. It's faint and distant, but she's pretty sure she can find the ancient timeship. "This way-"

It's a chore for the two humans chasing after the Time Lord; her small legs push her forward without relenting. The human's legs scream in protest, they ache, they plead, but they don't give up. Giving up means leaving Graham to his fate.

And they can't have that.

The TARDIS' thrumming grows clearer and nearer for the Doctor, and she breaks out into a run, slamming herself against her loyal friend, forehead pressed upon the blue wood. She sends out relief through their bond and feels concern caressing her mind and yanking back when it feels grief and anger and fear and rage-

"Get in," The Doctor orders Ryan and Yaz the moment they step up to the TARDIS. She waits until they enter before she follows them in, her feet stride towards the console, and she's already slamming buttons and pulling layers, sending them away from the crust of this planet and towards a world she considers her real home. 

Earth.

Ryan's mouth begins to open, but the Doctor jumps in front before he can speak. "I'm taking you two home."

"What?" Yaz blurts out. "Doctor, you can't-"

"I'm taking you home," The Doctor's head snaps up to the two young humans. "Graham asked me to take you home, and I am doing that, I've failed him enough as it is, I won't fail him in this."

Ryan storms towards the alien woman with thunder on his face. "No-" He snaps at her. "-that is my grandad back there and if you think I am going to leave him while you-"

"Ryan," The Doctor speaks in such a harsh voice, cutting him off from his rant. "You will do as I say, do you think I want to take you two back into there? Do you think Graham wants you back in there when he knows that one of them knows that you're his grandson?"

"He's the only family I have!" Ryan shouts, emotion fueling him. "And I left him back there to get tortured-" He breaks, bending and leaning against the console as tears stream down his face. "-what sort of family am I? The least I can do is do something to rescue him!"

The Doctor rubs a hand down her weary face. She feels her age, feels the blows and scars dealt to her throughout the years. Every face she failed, young and excited, always promised the universe, but killed by it instead. "I understand, Ryan, but I will not put you or Yaz in danger, not when Graham already is."

"You're our family, Ryan," Yaz places her hand on his back. She looks towards the Doctor, eyes red and wet. "Doctor, please-"

"I'm sorry," The Doctor turns away from them. "I can't risk you two any more than I already have-"

"I want to be there," Ryan whispers, giving up the anger and outrage and turning to begging instead. "I need to be there, Doctor, please-"

The sound in his voice strikes the Doctor full-force in the chest, ripping away the composure she has. She keeps her face out of their eye line, her hair fanning down over the sides of her cheeks. "I will get him back, Ryan."

"You're going to leave us anyway, aren't you?" Yaz realises finally. "No matter what we say, you will leave us-"

"Not forever," The Doctor continues to face away. "Just until I get Graham back-"

"But you will be alone, how will you get him back, Doctor? There are four of them and one of you, the odds are not in your favour-"

The Doctor's eyes narrow, her brow creases. "No, I won't be alone, Yaz."

"What?"

The Doctor finally looks up at the two younger humans, face set into a neutral expression. "Graham gave me the idea actually," She leans away from the console. "If I can contact him then he will help-"

Yaz frowns at the Doctor, and she shares a look with Ryan. "Who are you talking about?"

"I haven't met him in this regeneration yet, should've met him, said sorry for a lot of things," The Doctor stares at nothing. "But he found you, called for you to leave me a message for me-" She slams a hand down on the console and turns her gaze to Ryan and Yaz. "-all those months ago now, beware the Lone Cyberman-"

Yaz's eyes widen. "Captain Jack?"

"The one and only," The Doctor speaks fast, her hands already in motion across the console. "Now, it shouldn't take me long to track him down-" Her eyes are focused on the steam billowing from the vents. "-just need to put in the parameters regarding his signature, he's one of a kind, and the TARDIS doesn't very much like him because of that little fact-"

She doesn't focus on Ryan or Yaz as she sprints around the console like a mad-woman on a mission. 'Come on, old girl,' She sends across the bound that she and her timeship share. 'We need his help.' There's a warble in response, reluctant, but willing to aid her thief in whatever she needs. 'I know you like Graham because he cleans up after himself,' There's slight amusement shared in the bond just before the screen towards the Doctor's left flashes blue.

It crackles to life, static slowly fading away to reveal the curious expression on the man's face. "No one should be able to contact me on this number," His smooth American accent slips out. "Well, there is one person-"

"Jack," The Doctor pushes her face in front of the screen. "I need you-"

"Doctor?" Jack smirks down the line. "When your friends said you were a-"

"Not now, Jack," The Doctor cuts him off in a stern voice, something that indicates that this isn't just a social call. "I need your help urgently."

"What happened?" Jack asks without pause, seriousness falling into place in his voice. "Is it the Lone Cyberman?"

"No," The Doctor shakes her head just as Ryan and Yaz appear behind her, their faces twisted in grief. "We dealt with that-" Her eyes flick away, thoughts about the Master and Gallifrey and what happened fill her. Could she do anything differently? What is the Timeless Child exactly? What does that mean for her? Did the Master die? She shakes those thoughts away and faces the screen again. "-no, this is something else, Jack, something personal for us."

Jack flicks his eyes across the lineup, frowning ever so slightly as he locks onto each face before he looks back at the Doctor. "Where is the Silver Fox?" He questions, concerned. "I liked him a lot when I scooped him up," He smiles briefly.

"That's what I need your help with, Jack."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #JackIsBack


	12. Chapter 12

Orlan and Arden left a while ago now, but Graham never paid to attention to when they left precisely because he's been lost in his thoughts. What will happen now? How will the other two react? Cos Graham's pretty damn sure Orlan and Arden never consulted them, huh, maybe they'd kill each other and leave him alone.

That would be nice, but very unlikely sadly.

And he probably shouldn't be thinking like, but honestly? He's beyond caring about them at this point, well, Orlan and Arden have gone up a mark in his book, but it's only a mark that is about a centimetre.

 _Maybe_ , if he's feeling generous.

And as much as he's glad the others are free; Graham does miss the ability to chat with them because now he has nothing but the still silence of his cell and it feels colder, somehow. There are noises and sensations he's picking up on, dripping pipes, clanking rumbles deep within the building that he's sure he can feel, but that's impossible?

_Isn't it?_

The Doc could feel the moving of the ground beneath her; Lord knows she felt the need to inform them about it. If it wasn't that, then it was eating the damn soil- Graham snorts to himself before pulling a face when a ridiculous thought pops into his head.

He might be pretending to be the Doctor, but that's where it stops because he will not be eating dirt no matter what his thoughts are thinking.

Graham shakes his head before resting it against his wall. He stares ahead and into the cell that Ryan was sealed in. Relief floods his system like a drug. The lad is safe; he won't be hurt.

_'But you will be.'_

A voice, his own probably, whispers from deep within his subconscious. It's unsettling and sets him on edge, enough to cause budding worry to flash through him.

He looks away, trying to find anything to focus on, which happens to be the cup of water. It's probably from a toilet knowing his luck, but it's not like he has anything else to distract himself with at the moment.

But that interest soon fades, and Graham is back to staring at the floor again wondering when the Doctor will show back up, surely it won't be that long, will it? She has a time machine; after all, she could pop back right now and pick him up, but she hasn't, and he thinks it's been at least a few hours.

Find another distraction he thinks to himself.

Graham lifts his right hand and frowns at it. His fingers flex and begin tapping his thumb in a repeated motion. He shouldn't be able to do this; his hand should be bruised and in agony. His back should be a gaping wound, every single injury he's received should remain on his body in the way that he acquired them, but they appear like he gained them years ago. His eyes flick down to his arms, spotting the faint pale lines dotted across them and he was sure they were more noticeable before. 

Have they healed again?

None of this is comforting, he feels alien in his skin, like it's fizzing away and he can't help but wonder if this is what the Doc felt when she crashed through the roof of that train. His head lowers to his chest, and he presses his hands against his face before yanking them away when he feels the scar deep in his face.

His eyes narrow in thought. If every other scar is fading, then why isn't the one on his face disappearing as well? It's still there, healed and old feeling, but still ingrained upon his facial features. Unchanging.

"Doc, what have you done?" Graham asks no one. The silence strikes him, and he hates it now, hates being alone with his thoughts, hates having no answers at all. His thoughts rotate in his head, stressing him out. Talking is good, he's always talked out his feelings to someone, his mother, friends, Grace and Ryan, but he doesn't have anyone but himself to talk to, so his thoughts spiral out of control.

Anxiety builds, worry about what he is. Does he feel human? Graham grabs at his wrist and counts his pulse, finding minimal comfort in the two-beat rhythm. Thud-thud, thud-thud- A human's heartbeat, not the Doc's double beat, just a regular old human heart.

So, he's still human?

Maybe?

Or not-

Graham looks up and frowns at the door, eyes narrowed against it. He feels something tickling at the back of his mind, dancing across it like a ballerina.

Warning him-

He stands in a flash when the door swings open, revealing the furious face of Parke and the limping form of Deveral. Orlan and Arlen follow behind meekly.

"You idiots!" Parke screams at the two men behind him. "What the hell were you two thinking?"

"They were innocent," Orlan stands to his full height. "They weren't involved in this-"

Deverel blinks around the room, eyes groggy and unfocused and Graham has a sneaking suspicion that he probably shouldn't be up and about. He glares at him, anger written upon his face when he notices his leather jacket is still in his possession.

"They will get help-" Parke spins and faces Orlan. "-they will lead it here!" His angry eyes snap to Graham. "You made him do this!"

Graham focuses on Parke. "I didn't do anything," He spits. "You did when you hit me with that chain-"

Parke grabs the bars and stares into Graham's cell. His hand inches towards the lock only to get pulled back by Deverel. "Dev?"

"The boy," Dev croaks out, and Graham can't help but smirk internally about that. "He-"

"Hey-" Parke rests his arms on Deverel's shoulders. "-you shouldn't even be up-"

Graham hates the sudden care in Parke's voice. He bites his tongue, forcing the sarcastic comment to vanish from his mouth.

"No-" Deverel swallows thickly. "-never got a chance to say before that lunatic tried to kill me," He wheezes out. "-before he attacked me I found out something-"

"What did you find out, Dev?"

"Grandson," Deverel finally reveals. "The lad was his grandson," Orlan, Arden, and Parke snap their heads towards Graham. "He married a woman, gained a grandson, they were family-"

Parke's hands clench, and he faces Orlan again. "You let his grandson go-"

Orlan stares back at Parke. "What is the issue in that?" He retorts. "The boy was still innocent in all of this!"

"Our families are gone because of him-" Parke's hand snaps towards Graham. "-you released the one thing that could've made him know what it feels like to lose your family-"

"The boy was innocent-"

Parke sneers at Orlan and Arden, his eyes flicking between the pair of them. "Well, it's all right for you two, isn't it?"

Now, that catches Graham's attention in a big way. He observes them.

"What?" Orlan speaks, bewildered.

"You have each other," Parke snaps, spittle flying from his lips. "You never lost what we lost-"

Orlan's expression changes in a flash, anger lights up his eyes. "My brother will never be the same!" He shouts. "And you dare to say that we never lost what you lost?!"

"We lost everything!" Parke yells. "You only had your brother, and you still have him-"

"I lost friends, people I cared about-"

Graham's eyes flick between the two enraged men. They are the strongest compared to Arden who looks unreliable in a fight, and he'd almost feel sorry for the bloke if he weren't part of them. His eyes travel to Deverel next, and he notices him leaning heavily against what was the Doc's cell. He's out of a fight, and Graham knows he shouldn't feel proud, but he does. He threatened Ryan and paid for it.

Orlan and Parke edge closer together, chests heaving in rage. "You always were soft," Parke spits at Orlan. "Weak, didn't have the stomach to do what was needed-"

"I did what I could-" Orlan retorts. "I tried-"

"You never tried hard enough; you stopped helping when your damn brother lost his-"

Graham blinks in surprise when the punch flies forward, connecting against Parke in a satisfying slap.

Parke spits blood against the floor. "Stupid, Orlan, you were always so stupid-"

Graham flinches back when Parke slams his body into Orlan, sending him against the floor hard. The thuds that follow is is something Graham knows all too well. They're about the same size, but Parke has weight behind him, and he knows how to use it.

Can he stand here and watch this?

"Oi!" Graham snaps, and he strides forward, arms reaching through the bars and pulling at them. "-you're gonna kill him-" He finds himself saying.

Parke rips himself free from Graham and pulls himself off Orlan. He's seething, eyes wild and filled with hate. "That's rich coming from you," He snaps at Graham, grabbing at him through the bars. "I should do the same to you again-"

"Parke?" Deverel swallows, one hand reaching out to the agitated man. "What was-"

"He's a traitor to us, Dev," Parke spits on the motionless Orlan. "Him and his brother-" He lets go of Graham and steps back just as Arden falls to his knees and pulls his brother towards him. He rests his head in his lap, hands brushing against his short brown hair. Parke's bloodied hands clench at his side. "It's just us now, Dev-" His eyes turn towards the injured man. There is a manic look to them. "-we're alone-"

Graham watches the expression on Deverel's face, uncertainty is displayed across it, and he can tell that the man is thinking about his choice here. Side with Orlan, get beaten up, side with Parke, remain safe from the madman.

"What will we do with them?" Deverel questions.

Parke glances towards the silent man. "We lock them up with him-" His hand gestures towards Graham. "-seeing that Orlan wanted to help his friends out, they can stay together now."

Graham steps back and away from the door. He knows when to comment and when to act, and that isn't now, not when Parke has riled himself up. He watches as the limb body of Orlan is dragged into the cell, he half expected them to throw Arden in with him, but to his surprise, the mute man willingly follows his brother.

The moment the cell shuts Parke storms from the room with Deverel stumbling after him, his eyes glance towards Orlan before pulling away.

Graham breathes deeply, exhaling after holding the breath. "Arden-" He says, frowning when the man doesn't look at him. "-you need to make it so he can breathe through the broken nose."

_Why is he helping them?_

He sighs and makes his way over, picking up the cup of water along the way. He kneels by the side of Orlan and looks over the wounds on his face. "It doesn't look that bad-" Graham murmurs. "-broken nose, bruised eye, but the majority of his head seems all right-" He rips part of his shirt away and dabs it into the cup before reaching out towards his face.

Arden grabs his hand, holding it there while he stares at Graham intensely.

"You can either do it, or you can let me do it," Graham suggests with narrowed eyes. "I don't like you, I don't like him, but-" He pulls back. "-why should I even help you? You hurt me; you don't deserve my help-"

 _'Because it's the right thing to do, love.'_ A voice he misses whispers into his ear. _'You know it is.'_

"He hurt me, Grace," Graham mumbles to himself. "Why should I offer him kindness back when they don't deserve it?"

 _'Because you're a good man, Graham,'_ Her voice reminds.

Graham sighs in frustration and moves his hands forward again while his eyes remain locked on Arden. The silent man doesn't stop him this time, but he watches with mistrust that only gets relieved when it's obvious Graham is cleaning Orlan's wounds. It's a struggle to clean with the little water he has, but in Graham's opinion, he's done a pretty decent job at it.

He throws the sullied scrap of shirt and empty cup away before shuffling himself back towards his wall. "You're not having my pillow or blanket," He informs Arden. "They're mine."

Arden watches him, head tilting at an angle. He makes a motion in the air, hands moving swiftly and clearly trying to get something across to Graham.

And he couldn't tell anyone what it meant, but the nod that follows reveals it to him.

He's been given a thanks.

Graham stares back at Arden and nods. "Favour for a favour," He states. "We're even now," He grabs his pillow and blanket and lies down, eyes locked against the two men in distrust.


End file.
